Forging Demo by David Brunetta

I stayed up too late last night and I'm paying for it now. Why or why can't I leave the Etsy chatroom?

This Sat. I 'm going to the David Brunetta Studio to watch some forging. You can watch a video of David in action here: SculpturesbyDavid on his brand new website.

I hope it's a cool day. Working with a forge warms things up quick. David has many pieces on display in Laguna Beach. He used to be in a lot of galleries but now he is swamped with custom orders. He does all kinds of gates, benches, and abstract and realistic sculptures. But he also makes wooden bows that are fully functional and has made a fair number of knives in his day. It's always a pleasure to pick his brain.

Laguna Sawdust Festival 2008

Usually I really enjoy this event and take lots of photos of the art. But this year there were signs everywhere that said, "No photos without the artist's permission." I find two problems with this. First off, most of the booths had no one in them to ask. Second of all, I'm pretty shy, and if I'm not buying anything the last thing I want to do is take the artist away from paying customers to ask if I can take a photo. And many artists are so snippy about it, I don't want to get 'dressed down' when I do ask.

So if and when I have an art booth, I'm putting a big sign that says "Take all the photos and videos you want. Knock yourself out. Blog about me, Twitter, Pownce and Plurk about me. Copy my art because there is nothing new under the sun anyway. And the only way my legacy will carry on after I die is if my art is seen by the masses. And if you can take a photo of my booth and sell it for a million dollars, more power to you.

So my photos of the event are pretty bland. Sorry about that.