Brian Russell Masterclass: Part 1

This year on the course, we have really invested; not only in our Gravity lectures, but also in master classes.  Earlier on in the year Jake James flew over from Canada and worked with our Artist Blacksmith students for the week, making two sculptural pieces and last week it was the turn of Brian Russell to come and run a master class in gate making.  Brian Russell is an exceptionally high calibre maker and makes exquisite forged metal work. I had seen him demonstrate at last summer’s BABA AGM and was really taken by the precision of his forging and the time that he invested in high quality tooling, allowing him to forge efficiently and effectively.

The master class was open to all of our first, second and third years. The intention was to make and complete two gates.  Brian designed and drew up the gate prior to arriving.  The real highlight of this master class was for students to watch Brian use his tools and see the way that he moves metal and for them to have an opportunity to use that tooling and execute his design with precision.

Del