My father is a self-taught welder, having learnt by necessity when working in a boat yard. Skilled in understanding strength of material, the weight needed to shape it, the varying heat and gas levels required to maintain the integrity of the metal; he taught me too.
Over a hot summer during 2020, we worked together in an old grain barn, fashioning make-shift jigs from off-cuts of idle cylinders, and bending soft curves for the bases of chairs round tractor tyres.
A world away from joining threads together to create a structure. Heat and rust and dust and dirt; I encountered force and flame and a different way of knowing and feeling material.
I read in Lauren MacDonald’s Pursuit of Colour that ‘natural’ materials (akin to the ones I’d use in for dyeing and textiles) are made by today’s sunlight, and ‘synthetic’ materials (as in, they are not formed naturally, like the mild steel I used, made from iron ore and carbon) are formed of ancient sunlight.
After reworking our designs on the back of a few envelopes, we decided our chairs needed adjusting for our taller frames.
We made use of an old tank and from it made a log burner.
An old mirror turned into a hanging arch way, reflecting the green back to us.
Two long rods and a couple of barley twists became a supporting archway for an old apple tree.
