Mid-week Bench Check and More About the Retreat

Whew - Thursday already?! Wednesday just skipped right on by - so I'm a little late on the bench check this week. It took me a while to recover from my week at the retreat - I miss all the great conversations and laughter (and the chocolate, ha ha), but I brought the inspiration home with me. I can't say enough about how wonderful it is to spend a week creating with so many other talented artists. I learned tons, even though I didn't get as many new pieces made as I did last year. I was part of the "garage girls" - we all set up our worktables in the garage, and there was also a huge workbench with a bench shear, rolling mill, big vise and stakes for forming, and a flexshaft. Along with the music and the laughter, it was the perfect environment! That's my table in the foreground with Lisa's forging hammer - I made my dragonfly leaf with that hammer. Angela and Christy are at the other busily working away.

I bought a rolling drawer caddy while I was at the retreat, which is the start of getting my workbench better organized here at home. I'll be getting a couple more of these to get the rest of the clutter off my tables, and then I'll be starting on a hanging system for hammers, pliers, etc. Here's my bench all put back together at home. I can't wait to turn this pitiful space into something a bit better than the basement dungeon it is now - starting with white paint on the walls, that will go a long way in getting rid of that dungeon look!