What is a 'Working Day' ?

Day 60

The last couple of days have been a bit messed up, certainly in terms of how they might track back into the grant project.

Just how do you count a working day?
Especially if you are a self supporting artist?

People who have 9 to 5 'standard' jobs just don't get it. Yes, I do not have to go someplace at a fixed time, then do something I largely do not like, mainly for someone else's bennefit.
But I also spend more time each day (even if its broken up) occupied with my 'job'. I also typically 'work' seven days a week. I don't have any holidays.

Normally I'm up at about 7 AM (often much earlier). I dress, brush my teeth, go up to my office and turn on the computer. Grab a coffee. That puts me 'at work' by about 7:10 at the latest.
Then I'm involved in business related activity until normally 10 - 10:30.  This includes all the business communications, which I in fact do first. This may be answering questions, preparing quotes and design work. Keeping my business records (including all that tax stuff for the sole bennefit of the Government). There is time spent on 'outreach' - here being researching, writing, formatting and posting for the blogs. Attempting to keep the web sites up to date.

By about 10:30 or 11 AM, my brain is about toast. Some days the desk / computer work runs straight through to noon. By then I'm *really* fried.

During the grant project, I have been seriously trying to keep 'non grant' work to a bare minimum. I'm keeping a daily diary, when I note what I've done each day. Note that I do not consider that work required as part of keeping the Wareham Forge functional as 'non grant' time. Monday I spent a hour compiling my quarterly HST, for example.  A counter point was that this morning I spent roughly a hour and a half making up a design rough for a possible project for *after* the grant runs out. That time I will not include under the project grant.

Afternoons are generally spent in the workshop itself, normally starting some point between 1:30 - 2 pm. Once again, there is a lot more to undertake in the shop than just hammer at the forge. Supply trips (Monday morning I rushed in to purchase propane, elapsed time was 1 1/2 hours). Clean up and maintenance. Equipment construction and set up.
Now take one of the work sessions documented here, say the one shown as 'A Typical Work Session'.
First I need to figure out just what I'm going to do. This may include some organization and record keeping. Typically 15 minutes.
Then, having selected the bloom to work on, I start the gas forge and start getting the required tools, etc organized. All while waiting for the gas forge to get through its pre-heat. Typically 10 minutes.
Now I can place the bloom piece into the gas forge for its initial heat soak. Then I turn my attention to the preparing the coal forge. Clean, sieve, lay and start the fire. Wait for that fire to run through its coking phase. Normally sweep the shop floor while this is happening. Typically 30 - minutes.
By now the bloom piece is pre-heated and can be transferred to the coal forge to bring it up to welding heat. This requires some attention. I dance back and forth preparing the air hammer and hydraulic press for operation.
Elapsed time from when I entered the workshop till I pull the bloom piece out to the anvil? Typically 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.
Insert forging the bloom here, normally about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Now at that point I'm, pretty much beat. Forging multiple kilogram masses at welding heats is exhausting and demanding work (even *with* my two machines).

Add some time shutting things down. Normally its now something between 5 - 6 pm.
I make that a 'normal' work day of 7 a to 5:30 p, with 1 1/2 hours average for lunch = 9 hours.

Then there are the *long* days.
Now do that basically 7 days a week.


I was extremely pleased - and quite surprised, to get this OAC grant! (Ok?)

Taking the amount awarded in the grant and converting it into normal working days, at 5 per week and weekends off, the total came to * 43 * working days. Use that standard, with the 14 days for the Smeltfest research trip considered additional time.  With the grant effective February 15,  the last grant day would be Thursday April 26.
Tomorrow.
See the 'day count' at the top of this post?
I have deducted all the time I have spent on things that I do not consider part of this project. I've been counting 'full days' (not working hours!)
Today's total?
* 60 * days

I'm actually going to try to squeeze out additional working time past that April 26 date for the grant project. I have an academic paper to deliver at the International Congress on Medieval Studies on May 10. My intent is to extend my own work on this project to that date.

I think the Ontario Taxpayer is certainly getting their money's worth...


PS - this piece just took me one hour to prepare

Public Outreach

(day three)
Although not specifically required as part of the Craft Projects grant, I personally consider communicating the work of Bloom to Bar an important part of the project.

The primary tool for this will remain the internet:

Iron Blooms to Working Bars
(Here!) This blog will specifically detail the work and topics directly related to the grant project. I'm going to try to post daily over the funding period (roughly three months)

Experimental Iron Smelting
Although seen from the stand point of archaeology, the existing Experimental Iron Smelting web site details the entire experimental series from 2001. It includes summaries of each smelt with images, experimental data and layout drawings. There are a number of formal papers and articles published, plus working guides to building and operating several different small furnace types.

Hammered Out Bits
This blog has been ongoing since March of 2006. To date there are over *600* individual postings. The primary topic areas are Iron Smelting, the Viking Age, and subjects related to general artistic blacksmithing. I will be doing my best to keep different materials posted there from commentaries seen on B 2 B.

Discussion Groups
I remain active (as topics arise) on at least four related open discussion boards:
EARLY IRON - a group specifically focused on experimental bloomery iron smelting
NORSEFOLK - a group focused on aspects of Viking Age history, and living history
Don Fogg's BLADESMITHING - a more general set of discussions on knifemaking
METAL ARTS GUILD - a more random discussion of artistic metalwork of all kinds

In addition, I had already committed to a number of lecture presentations that will fall inside the project period:

February 22 - Society for Creative Anachronism, Trent University, Peterborough Ontario
Lady Eaton College / Building 7, rm 208

'Medieval Iron - an Overview'
A fast look over Iron as a material, iron work as a process, and iron objects of the Middle Ages. A focus will be to take a look at the kinds of objects of special interest and utility to the re-enactor. There will be a simple overview of blacksmithing equipment from the period - and what you would need to get started *historic* forging. Illustrated with images and replicas.

March 31, Forward Into the Past, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo Ontario
Bricker Academic Building

'An Iron Smelt in Vinland - an experimental investigation'
Part of the session 'Experimental Vikings: Glass and Iron'
This will be a first test presentation of my formal paper for the ICMS (below). Expect more time to delve into the practical aspects of iron smelting methods.

April 14 & 15, Archaeology Centre, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Ontario

Part of 'Experimental & Living History of the Viking Age'
Within this larger group presentation by the Dark Ages Re-creation Company, I will be mounting a table style display illustrating bloomery iron production as an example of experimental archaeology.

May 10, International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan
10 AM / Session 24 / Fetzer Hall rm 1045

'An Iron Smelt in Vinland - an experimental investigation'
Part of the session 'Can these Bones Come to Life '
" Investigations of the archaeological site at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, indicate local bog iron ore was smelted into workable metal, at least once, by the Norse some time about 1000 AD. Just why the first iron smelt in North America was carried out remains open to interpretation. Starting in 2009, a team from Ontario, Canada, conducted a series of five experiments, culminating on a full re-creation of the original Norse iron smelt at L'Anse aux Meadows NHSC in August of 2010.
This paper will detail how the archaeological evidence was combined with years of experience with Norse styled furnaces to produce a successful working system. What was learned about the physical process can now shed greater light on not only early iron smelting methods, but what happened in Vinland near the end of the Viking Age."
This is the formal delivery of this academic paper, which deals with various discoveries from an Experimental Archaeology viewpoint.

As well, there are some practical workshop sessions scheduled:

March 10, Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association, Guelph Ontario

'Building and Operating the Aristotle Furnace'
This will be a practical demonstration and participant workshop session held as part of the regular monthly meeting of OABA. The Aristotle Furnace was first introduced at Smeltfest 2008 and further refined during Smeltfest 2009 (see below). It is a small table top re-melting furnace which easily allows the production of a small cake of bloomery type metal - ideal for bladesmithing.

March 16 - 25 (tentative), Smeltfest 2012, the Rockbridge Bloomery, Lexington Virginia

Smeltfest is a closed workshop that has been held annually since 2005. It is hosted by Lee Sauder, and gathers together other artisan blacksmiths who are primary members of the North American 'Early Iron' movement : Skip Williams, Michael McCarthy, Jesus Herandez, Steve Mankowski and Sheldon Browder (plus others). I have been a key participant in these sessions since their inception. Every year, the group focuses attention on specific problems related to iron bloomery furnaces.
The grant application included specific funding to cover my participation in this two week long 'retreat' style workshop.

Many of these presentations are open to the general public.

Images for a Grant

In the application for the Craft Project - Creation and Development Grant, you include a total of 10 images of recent work. The images are supposed to be presented in order of creation, oldest to newest.
This can present a wee bit of a challenge:
Do I have a significant body of work?
Do I have half decent *images* of those good pieces?
Does the order of oldest to newest actually show some kind of progression of skill / vision?
Do those images actually support the proposal for the grant?

Yikes!
I found picking the images one of the hardest parts of the entire grant submission.
I was extremely fortunate that my friend, silver and gold smith Brenda Roy, had gifted me with advise on preparing this grant package. Brenda has applied, and recieved, a number of these same grants in the past. She has actually sat on the jury a couple of times as well. Her insight (obviously) proved invaluable!

Here is what I used - shown in the order the jury would have viewed them :

01 - 2009 - Fresh from the Smelter - bloomery iron - about 5 kg

02 - 1996 - Pattern Welded Kitchen Knife - forged layered iron alloys - L 25 cm

03 - 2000 - Lily Arbor - forged structural steels - H about 1.5 m

04 - 2006 - Celts at the Gate - forged structural steels - H about 1.75 m

05 - 2008 - Segmented Funeral Urn - forged wrought iron, copper - H 40 cm

06 - 2009 - Arts & Crafts Railing - forged steel - assemblage, total about 6 m long

07- 2010- Kelp and Breakers Railings - forged steel - assemblage, total about 21.5 m

08 - 2011 - Burgess Crab - forged steel - H about 1.25 m

09 - 2011- Segmented Bowl - forged steel - L 25 cm

10 - 2011 - Bloom Iron Bowl - forged bloomery iron - L 20 cm

In so much I actually did get the project grant, I guess this selection of images did do what I intended.

One additional thing to be aware of:
The jury had a a total of some 125 of these applications to look at. Each submitting artist only has three ways to illustrate their work and worth. First is the 'Artist Statement & Project Outline'. The second is a submitted CV (an earlier version, prepared for a failed 2008 grant is available if you are interested.) The third are those 10 selected images. Note how short the descriptions are!

So I cheated a bit with that first image. (Its out of age sequence.) I picked one of the most dramatic images I had of an actual hot, fresh from the furnace iron bloom being worked. It was intended to grab attention (what the heck *is* that!) and also to directly show what the grant was for.
The next images are primarily architectural, and bring my work up to the present years. As *blacksmithing* they may not be the most complex. But the designs show the development of a consistent style, and a strong sense of overall design. They are also very good as dramatic images. I had also included the early knife and the funeral urn to show there was more than just railings being created.
The last three images were of current work (grant application was made Fall of 2011). I chose three sculptural pieces. Intentionally you see a switch to a consideration of form and texture, from the dominance of line in the earlier pieces.
The very last image is of a sculptural form made of bloom iron. Brenda had told me that the very last image was extremely important, as typically it would remain in view as the jury considered my application and discussed it. I wanted an image that clearly showed the distinctive properties of bloom iron as a material, and also gave some indication of a possible direction that finished objects might take.

I guess it worked!


My intention is to comment on each day's work on the overall project via a blog post. The first couple of days will be spent on organization and administration. I normally undertake writing tasks early in the morning, so tomorrow I will start reporting on the previous day's activities...

WOW! I actually GOT IT!!

I headed out the front of the workshop (first time today) about 2:30 in the afternoon.

I've got a letter from the Ontario Arts Council.
I'm expecting, well, not much more than 'thanks for applying, maybe next time'.

Dear Darrell Markewitz

On behalf of the Ontario Arts Council, I am pleased to inform you that you have been awarded a Crafts Projects - Creation and Development Grant in the amount of...A cheque is enclosed.

WHAT?
Huh - a cheque?
It's for 3/4 the amount I applied for?
I got the grant??
What...

Ok, so I'm still a bit in shock.

Here's what my 'Artist Statement and Grant Proposal' looked like:

The very first time I picked up the blacksmith's hammer was a direct result of my interest in ancient artifact and process. Objects from the Celtic Iron Age and Scandinavian Early Medieval periods continue to influence my developing personal style. There was virtually no existing living tradition of artistic blacksmithing in Canada when I started in the late 1970's. For that reason, my skills have been hard earned, and the transfer of methods into a new generation have become more and important to me into my fourth decade in the medium.

With experience has come a clear understanding that our modern materials are not equivalent to historic, much less ancient, metals. The ancient material is bloomery iron, produced by lost techniques, with no living tradition (in Europe), no written descriptions, even virtually no archaeology. How did ancient craftsmen make their raw material? This question has absorbed me for over a decade. Since 2001 I have self funded some 50 bloomery iron smelting attempts, and have observed or assisted in as many others (with travel to the USA and Europe). There is no other Canadian with as much experience with these methods, and few others in North America.

The results of all this work are dozens of iron blooms, several hundred kilograms worth. The next step in the experiential process is converting these massive and spongy blooms into working bars, by compressing, folding and forge welding. Individual iron blooms have a distinctive texture, caused by inclusions of slag, and can vary considerably in carbon content, sometimes even within the same bloom. These are significant differences compared to modern industrial steels, affecting the working processes in the forge, and also creating specific qualities to the finished object.

The purpose of this grant is to cover three months dedicated time to allow me to develop a practical understanding of how to convert my existing raw blooms into working bars. This process is further complicated by having blooms from different ore types and furnaces, individual blooms having quite differing physical characteristics. If time permits, the various metal bars produced could be combined into finished objects. The budget covers normal shop operation expenses, living costs, plus fuels and other needed supplies for the specific project work.
My existing workshop will have to be modified (then returned) for the specific tools and set ups required for these processes.
Also included in the proposal are funds to cover travel to a two week workshop gathering (in mid March) of the other primary leaders of the 'Early Iron' movement in Virginia.
Part of the process would be to publish my results, via web site and blog certainly, possibly also through formal papers or journal articles.

Look - I'm intending to document the day by day progress of the work covered by the grant. Right now I'm still twitching. I managed to get this blog set up. My brain is not tracking evenly right now, so give me a chance to recover...