Artist Blacksmith Magazine Issue 145

What a lovely surprise as I checked my pigeonhole this morning to find a copy of the most recent Artist Blacksmith magazine.

There is a big feature article on last summer’s International Blacksmithing Festival and, in particular, The New Iron Age exhibition in the British Artist Blacksmithing marquee, which I curated alongside Steve Rooke, Elspeth Benny and Lucy Quinnell.

The feature is written by Fran Mackereth and gives a real insight into the trials and tribulations of marquee installation and setting up high profile exhibitions in fields in the Devonshire countryside. This installation of the exhibition was only made possible by lots of help from our BA (Hons) Artist Blacksmithing students as we all worked together as a team. I did find myself laughing out loud on reading the paragraph that Fran wrote about us as a team in particular!

“Del is clearly a woman who relishes a challenge, though, like a cross between a Sergeant Major, a mother hen and a queen bee she rallied her swarm of devoted helpers who quickly turned the marquee into a buzzing hive of activity.  If the rest of the site looked as if “pause had been pressed” by late afternoon, things in the BABA marquee were definitely on fast forward. Plinths were positioned, partitions erected and painted and interpretation boards and photographs mounted.”

Thank you again to all of the Hereford Anvils who helped install the exhibition and who took part in the forged competitions and slept in damp and leaky tents for a week. It was hard work but boy we had some fun – I think she summed me up quite well!!

Del