BEREA —
Learning how to make a sterling silver ring, a broom and the basics of blacksmithing were all workshops that were available to patrons this year during the Berea Festival of Learnshops. This is the second year for the workshops, which started Friday and continue to July 29.
Lexington resident Sonya Reed, who was in the Introduction to Blacksmithing class, said her sister signed her up as a birthday present.
She said she was enjoying the class as long as “nobody got burnt.”
The instructor, Berea native Jeff Farmer, advised Reed not to make her metal leaf creation too thin as she was shaping it with a mallet.
Farmer, of Berea College Student Crafts, said the most important rule to remember when blacksmithing is “not to touch the red end.”
The group worked on creating different pieces during the class such as a heart hook.
Farmer urged another student to hammer his metal as soon as possible because the metal is easier to manipulate when hot.
“I don’t give it time to think about cooling off,” he said.
When the steel is heated in the forge it can reach up to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit and when it’s laid on the anvil to be hammered it can rise to 2,400 degrees.
“It makes it soft and pliable,” he said.
Another couple, from Wakeman, Ohio, also waited a long time to attend their learnshop.
Pam and Steve Davies said they had been waiting for about two years to participate in a basket-weaving class.
“We came to the Artisan Center and saw her (Janet Northern) work and have been trying to track her down her since,” Pam Davies said.
They attended the Hickory Bark & Honeysuckle Wall Hanging Baskets session Saturday morning at the Broadway Center.
Janet Northern, instructor of the class, said the baskets would take between eight to 10 hours to assemble.
“You can put your keys or change in it,” she said.
The Davieses said they wanted to use their baskets for decorative purposes and maybe mount them to a piece of driftwood, a material that they have used to make other art.
The materials the class were using, Northern said, were all-natural and gathered from Rockcastle County.
She urged her students to remember to moisten their pieces of bark otherwise it will be hard to weave with them.
Mary Barczak can be reached at mbarczak@richmondregister.com.
Local News
Related Photos
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Sonya Reed, of Lexington, watches Jeff Farmer of Berea College Student Craft, demonstrate how to shape a steel rod during the Introduction to Blacksmithing class. A friend of Reed's paid for admission into the class for her birthday. Crystal Wylie/The Register
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Ashley Spalding, of Berea, makes her own honeysuckle and hickory bark wall hanging basket during the Festival of Learnshops, which continue through July 29. Crystal Wylie/The Register
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