After flying over the province of Saskatchewan, Canada and landing in Saskatoon, a city of 257,000 people in the heart of prairie country, I was greeted by the talented blacksmith and all-round nice guy Craig Campbell. Craig and his wife Bev, generously accommodated several international artists including myself for the time that we were in Saskatoon.
The first trip out of town was to head up to the Boreal Forest to demonstrate blacksmithing at the wonderful Ness Creek music festival, and to check out the Ness Creek site. I would be spending most of the following month at Ness Creek making stuff at the 2018 Emma Collaboration event and teaching at the Forest Art event. My usual travel sickness had no chance to take hold as for the two and a half hour drive we only went around five gentle bends and one dip in the road!
The Emma Collaboration is a biennial event running for a week. The aim of the gathering is for artists/makers to come together and experiment, to share skills and ideas, to ‘play’ without the responsibilities and routine of everyday life. It is similar to musicians getting together to jam, and like music, the creative possibilities seem to be infinite.
At the Ness Creek site, work spaces were set up covering a range of materials and techniques. There were areas to work with wood, metal, glass, fibre, leather, printmaking, jewellery, painting and of course, blacksmithing. One of the most interesting work areas was set up for a technique which I have not previously encountered. This technique is called encaustic painting and is the process of applying molten wax colours to a surface to create images and decoration. Because wax is used as the pigment binder, encaustics can be sculpted as well as painted and other materials can be encased or collaged into the surface using the encaustic medium. It is a fascinating and ancient technique which I hope to explore at the next Collaboration.
It was my first time attending such an event. Before I went to the Collaboration I felt there were so many creative possibilities to explore with blacksmithing and metal forming. Now, having collaborated myself and seen the collaborations of others across many artistic forms, I am excited and almost overwhelmed by the vastness of creative possibility.
It was an ideal creative environment for there were no expectations or limitations*. One could work with whoever, wherever, at whatever time and for as long as one wished. It was easy to become engrossed with the making and when the air horn sounded to signal food was ready, it was always a surprise how quickly the time had passed. Mealtimes were enjoyable exchanges of inspiration and excitement as each told of their current range of projects or sought help with problems. * There were in fact two expectations: sign up to the washing up roster and don’t leave food out for the bears.
There was much to stimulate the creative mind. The first place I was drawn to was the wood workshop, known at the site as ‘upper wood’. I was warmly welcomed to the stage as I expressed my desire to try woodturning. I have used a metal lathe many times in the forge but woodturning was a whole new experience. It was so different and satisfying to be tactile with the material, to be able to the touch and smell the wood.
I spent the next three days transfixed by the lathe absorbing advice from many skilled and experienced artists. It was like stepping from one family to another, as they shared their knowledge freely and let me experiment without judgement.
Throughout the week there were many enlightening conversations with criticism being open and honest. Every possibility was explored in the search for a solution to a problem. These conversations were more expansive when several people from different disciplines were involved, and often resulted in surprising and innovative resolutions. With my knowledge of metal, I was able to advocate the idea that metal can be used to complement other materials without dominating or distracting. I was able to demonstrate this fine balance when in the last few days I collaborated with other woodworkers to make stands for their works. One of these works was called ‘Boat People’.
I was surprised by the attachment I felt to the bowl I spent three days turning on the lathe but, this event was about collaboration and I learnt a valuable lesson in relinquishing artistic directorship. I realised that sometimes works are made with a clear vision but sometimes works are made on a much more randomised and intuitive path. Both these ways of making art are valid. The other thing I learnt was that no one person is the fount of all creative possibility and that to collaborate with other artists opens up creativity.
I have come away from the Emma Collaboration inspired and refreshed. It was an amazing experience to creatively interact for a dedicated week. I look forward to, and I urge others, to arrange a get together with other makers/artists, even if just for an evening or weekend, and to just play and make stuff with your pooled spare materials. The social connections relieve the isolation of working on one’s own and serendipity is given a space to work it’s magic. Apart from that, it is just plain fun.
Photos where taken by Gary Robins, Nathan Puffalt and Myself.