Starting off the season with beautiful weather and lots of interested visitors made today’s outdoor demonstration an enjoyable event.
Gorgeous Vancouver Island weather made it tempting to hit the beach today, but many folks were kind enough to stop by and see our work at the Craig Heritage Park and Museum grand opening. It was nice to hear stories of blacksmith memories and share some of the history behind the tools we use.
Tamaki enjoyed demonstrating her process for creating handmade metal button objets d’art and Davej was happy to explain how we make our handmade reclaimed softwood charcoal while hammering some harrow teeth into hand forged knife blades.
We also used the forge to melt down soda pop cans and aluminum foil to pour aluminum button blanks for Tamaki. One of the young people in attendance were recruited to turn the crank for the hand powered air blower to feed the fire. A spontaneous collaborative work was the result of a local copper artist generous enough to cross the rope and share his skills with a hammer and anvil.
Craig Heritage Park and Museum features many original buildings and artifacts from the past couple of centuries. Located just south of Parksville on the old Island Highway, it is an excellent way to connect with some of the history, relics, and past lifestyle of the mid-island area.
The grand opening is on Saturday, May 12, 2012 and begins at 11am. Regular museum hours are 7 days a week from 10am to 5pm, May 1 to Sept 30.
Craig Heritage Park and Museum
1245 East Island Highway, Parksville, BC [map]
(250) 248-6966
parksvillemuseum.ca