Being brave in art and life

Last week, I attended a week long welding class at Arrowmont, a craft school in Gatlinburg, TN. Though I'm a novice metal worker, I enjoy challenging myself with steel sculptures, sometimes incorporating glass for added bling. When we were given the freedom to choose our projects, I decided to create a dragon head sculpture, inspired by my involvement with a dragon boat team. Dragon boat racing requires synchronization and strength from its 20 paddlers; my team consists of all women aged 40 to 75, many of whom are cancer survivors, and they are fierce.

In the welding course, my tablemate, a 70-year-old cancer survivor, had never worked with metal but was eager to try. Inspired by her and my teammates, I designed and built this 3D dragon head, using loud, hot, and intimidating equipment to bring it to life. On the last day of class, another student brought his unicycle because my tablemate wanted to try it. When he offered the chance to me, I hesitated and she encouraged me by saying, “When are you ever going to get this chance again?” So I did that too!

To me, this steel dragon head symbolizes the power of stepping into unfamiliar and scary moments and giving it your best effort. I’m adding purple dichroic glass eyes and will hang her in my studio as a reminder to be brave. If you need this reminder too, let me know, and we can schedule a visit. Check out my Instagram for photos and videos, including the unicycle adventure.