Another week at Wildacres up in Little Switzerland. North Carolina has come and gone again. This was my third visit and it is now right up there as one of my most favorite weeks of the year. Betty Helen Longhi was my instructor and we not only hammered ourselves silly, we bought every conceivable hammer and stake we will ever need for the rest of our lives (ya, right).

Here are some of the forms we made while learning how to hammer metal into different forms and shapes using anticlastic raising, synclastic forming, sinusodial stakes and mandrels. It'll take plenty of practice to become proficient at this particular skill. Betty made it all look easy, of course.

There were classes in chainmaking (Jean Stark), making miniature teapots (John Cogswell), blacksmithing (Zach Noble), Bi Metal (Juan Carlos Caballero-Perez), and finding one's individual style (Charles Pinckney). Below are Maggie, Jean & Julia, three women who inspire me with their wisdom, joy of life and vibrant, positive attitudes.

Here we are working in Betty Helen's class. We would work from 9:00 am until 6:30 pm. Some nights we would come back after dinner and work some more.


And talk about fun! Oh my gosh, we had had so much fun. Can you read Donnie's T-shirt? It says, "Midnight Plumber: Will work for M&M's." There is a long story behind this involving Maggie, a broken shower at midnight and Donnie to the rescue.


Part of the "Spruill Gang" below. We've all been taking classes at Spruill for a few years, and Tom is an instructor. One of the best parts of metalsmithing/jewelry making are the friends one makes along the way.