searchThere’s no place like home
Jono and Debi Retallick, Dec 2007
It has always excited me the way one can find a place of ‘home’ amongst like-minded people or alongside others who are on a similar journey to oneself. Jono and myself found ourselves very much at home in the alien culture of The United States of America in September 2007.
The journey began in Oxford in spring 2006 where we participated in an iron pour at The Bullpen arts centre. The workshop was our first taste of making cast sculpture and proved to be a very profound experience for both of us. We have found the processes involved satisfy the complex needs within the development of our practice, the collaborative element of sharing knowledge and experience with other artists has been very valuable. The pour itself is like a dance, each crew member contributing to the success of everybody’s work.
We continued to explore this new process by casting new work at another workshop at The Bullpen in July 07 and can now say we are well and truly hooked! Professor Daniel Hunt of Kansas State University lead the workshop and invited us to the annual ‘Friends and neighbours iron pour’ at The University in September. Jono and I spent two weeks working alongside students, making patterns (the original sculpture) and exploring the mould making processes including working with ceramic shell for the first time.
The time culminated in the spectacle of the iron pour itself, with the work of around 70 artists from all over the states, we poured 2000 Kilos of molten iron from a cupola continuous pour furnace! I produced five new works including a very experimental piece using handmade felt and wax for the pattern to create an iron helm, the work and the pour can be seen in detail at www.arts.gb.com. Jono began a new body of work, which he has continued to build on taking part in a pour at the West Wales School of art in October 2007.
We are now planning to set up our own small foundry at our studio space at The Kiln Barn, Bagshot Lea Village Hall, Farnham in 2008. We are hoping to source funding to continue to develop our current practice and also to introduce this exciting medium to other artists and people in the community. You can see more of our work at www.myspace.com/jonoretallick and www.myspace.com/debiretallick.