Altility Art Studio was a part of something very exciting recently; Bellingham’s first Pecha Kucha night.  Pecha Kucha is an alternative slide show event that originated in Tokyo and has since spread to over 400 cities around the world, and is now an awesome part of the Bellingham community.  Headed by Aaron Westgate of FreeFlow Studios, an organizing committee decided on a broad topic and then sourced 10-15 presenters whose work would address the subject in some creative and interesting way.  By rule, each presenter has 20 slide images with 20 seconds per slide for a total 6:40 minute presentation.  It’s intended to be a rapid fire, colorful event that turns a typically dull slide presentation into an exciting party full of  suspense and fresh ideas.  The theme for the first event was “Some Assembly Required: the process of putting things together”.  Staying close to the design-build origins of the event, we had collection of presenters ranging from artists, architects, unusual kayak inventions, tree houses, bike building, industrial design, communal living design, etc…  In hosting the event at my shop, we cleared out the main floor, put new artwork in the gallery, fired up the wood fired pizza oven, and had a keg of local beer.  About 130 people showed up for an evening of networking, celebrating and education on unique ideas and creations happening within the community.  There was a lot of excitement in the air, and we could tell that we hit the right chord and plan to continue the event.  Next month the theme will be “Grow Baby Grow” and will be a collection plant experts presenting on farming, landscaping, food and the condition of our agrarian community.

Check out some great photography and slides from the first event at here on the event’s facebook page.

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Over the course of a couple months I purchased the hammer from an amazing artist blacksmith Jorgen Harle who works and resides on Orcas Island.  I installed the machine and began preparing to create a work of art that would have previously been impossible.

With the capability to work with larger material I also needed to construct a new forge (heat source) that was able to get the material hot enough to work. My new forge design has an emphasis on being very fuel efficient and is versatile enough to work stock of any size.

With the facility ready, the design finalized, and a team assembled, we were ready to forge the pieces that would later be assembled into the sculpture. My objective was to create a piece of art that evoked a sense of growth, balance, transition and cycle in a very concise and intentional way. The final design was comprised of 6 similar pieces, proportionally related to the spiral of the Fibonacci sequence or ‘golden mean’. Starting with salvaged 2.25” solid steel bar, sections were heated in the forge and then brought to the hammer to be worked until cool. Straight pieces were curved into a textured arc by hammering or ‘fullering’ primarily one side of the bar, thus lengthening one side in comparison to the other. Over the course of five days, the bars were shaped into spiral arcs and the pieces created. In the weeks following the forging stage, I assembled the pieces into the form that would define the finished sculpture.  This was an intricate process of allowing the interplay of the pieces to define their own language and design.

The addition of the power hammer to the shop through this project has greatly enhanced the possibilities for scale and technique in sculpting metal, leaving me inspired to explore its creative potential.

Kyle adopted Bellingham as his canvas for community activism 15 years ago.  Before long he became a major advocate for the bicycle as an alternative form of transportation.  Ever since, bicycle accessibility and community outreach has been his mission.  Starting out as a member of the Pedal Project, a free bike program that supplies people with yellow bikes for in town use, Kyle then went on to co-found and eventually run the HUB Community Bike Shop.  The Hub is a non-profit business dedicated to keeping the community cycling, whether through tune-ups, repairs, reconditioned bikes for sale, a self-service shop space for rent, or various community events, classes and volunteer programs.  From what I’ve seen over the past six months, the HUB is a very vibrant and invaluable asset to a wide range of the Bellingham community, including avid bike commuters and cyclists, students, low income and homeless populations, and anyone interested in learning about the mechanics of their bike.  At any given time there is usually an on-slot of eager patrons keeping Kyle and has candid staff of five hard at work.  When the dust settles from the HUB’s business hours, Kyle can often be found building another unusual bicycle creation like the “Huggy Tandem”, or working on a commercial bike rack commission, built entirely from salvaged bike remnants.

Across the yard from the HUB is Creative Openings.  After climbing the large steps to a porch and sliding open the old rolling door, you step into a shop filled with antique industrial equipment, a warm wood stove and the fragrance of various woods.  With a big grin, Tom graciously welcomes the all too often visitors that pass in and out of his shop entry.  For the past 25 years Tom has been making a living through his fine woodwork and unique ideas.  Founded on building artistic hardwood screens and doors, Creative Openings has moved through a long history of commissioned projects and is now fully immersed in creating very high quality beautiful wood fenders for bicycles.  Within each of Tom’s projects, his craftsmanship shows a deep understanding and respect of the material he uses.   His experience and shop has become an invaluable resource for the various wooden projects  within the studio compound.

On the first floor of Creative Openings one often encounters any number of the local color sipping extraordinary espresso out of one unusual brewing apparatus or another.  This would be the espresso machine service lair of EVL enterprises.  On a daily basis Craig steps into the diverse world of good espresso and perform vital service to the machines that pump caffeine into the arteries of Bellingham.  Craig generously keeps the coffee grinder filled with whatever is to be the roasted flavor of the week.  The shop special includes steamed chocolate milk from the local dairy.

Walking a few steps north along the path one comes to another compound of activity; an old barn on one side where I have set up shop, and a number of other spaces across the gravel yard. One in particular is the home of Positive Negative, a community darkroom and photography studio.  Jason has been constructing this impressive facility for a number of months, with no detail unconsidered.  The shop will include a darkroom with 4 black and white developing stations, a room designated for digital artwork processes, a presentation and gallery space, a general workshop area, and a small bathroom that doubles as a film developing ‘black’ room.  I have admired Jason’s use of salvaged materials and general resourcefulness as he thoroughly pieces the shop together.  Like Tom and Kyle’s buildings, Jason’s project is a fine example of turning a nearly condemned space into an exceptionally beautiful, professional and creative business.

Over the past few seasons I’ve been able to watch my building partner Bay in action and am continually inspired.  The grounds around the building I rent is home to Bay’s native plant nursery, Plantas Nativas, which is a home base for a very diverse business.  An environmental activist by heart, Bay has been a botanist and landscaper for 14 years and over the course of his experience has learned a lot about the Northwest and its ecology.  Along with the nursery Bay, works on landscape projects large and small with an emphasis on watershed restoration.  Over the sunny months as the trees and shrubs go to seed, Bay is off traveling to different regions of the state collecting seed.  From hillsides to highways to abandoned industrial sites, Bay bushwhacks with buckets, ladders and his dog Benzo to get whatever seed, berry or nut he hopes is ripe for harvesting.  For Months he speculates as to when a certain variety of plant in a certain region of the state will be just right.  Then comes the process of extracting perfectly clean, fertile seed from his harvests.  Over this season I watched Bay process about 20 varieties of berries, nuts, flowers and pods, each with its own technique based on the certain unique characteristics of each plant and seed.  Come October, Bay had an impressive inventory of perfect seed product ready to deliver to a number of large scale nurseries.

As a collective whole, my neighbors offer no shortage of ideas, skills and enthusiasm.  The only limitation in being a self-employed artisan is hours in the day, and as the seasons have turned to rain and snow, I can see how much time it all takes and how dearly it is spent.

I’ve rented an old building in the downtown between the main street and the bike path.  The space is larger, more practical and after some serious cleaning and renovation has become a much better fit.  The yard to one side of the building is home to a native nursery, Plantas Nativa which ads a wonderful botany and diversity to the space.   After a major Portland shop deconstruction, two large box trucks, generous help from friends and a lot of heavy moving, I now find myself nearly up and running in a new town, a new space, and with renewed aspirations.