Art show invitation....

bladegrinder

bladegrinder

Well-Known Member
I work for a city owned natural gas company and about a month ago they sent out an email looking for city employees that did art work.......
I pondered this for a while and thought what the heck, I'll see if I could put some knives in it.
I wasn't too sure how I would be perceived as we all know most all government entities consider knives as weapons.

So I went on down to the building and was greeted by a nice lady....what kind of art work do you do?
Cutlery I replied...........................Ohhhhh, well you know the city considers knives as weapons.
well, actually I make a lot of kitchen and fishing knives, I make all kinds of knives.

For 22 years I've carried one of my belt knives with a 4" blade at work, so I pulled that out and showed her, she was kind of floored by it and said it was beautiful. she asked how I made them and really started to show an interest. she said take some pictures, fill out the form and send them in and they would be picking the winning candidates in a week.

So next week I got an email saying I'm in. :D

I don't know how many people applied but we have over 1900 city employees and they picked 11.
this isn't a judged or juried art show, rather something the city wanted to test the waters with.

So it opened tonight with hors d'oeuvres, wine, and my favorite...bottled water.
there were oil paintings, drawings...the regular art stuff, then there were..........."Miller Knives" Ha ha!

It was a good time, lots of city movers and shakers, discussed knifemaking with the mayor, city manager, a couple commissioners, and a lot of other folks that were there.
a lot of people were really interested in the knives at this show. they will be shown for two weeks.

I don't mean to drag this out but I wanted to write this because frankly I didn't think I'd get in with the way most large cities view knives
so tonight I hope some people that were there might walk away with a slightly different view of how knives are perceived in the public.
and from what I saw it went over really well.
..............................and, no, no one mentioned tv or forged in fire, so that was nice too.
JGDJW5Y.jpg
 
Congrats - you're right up there with the "artsy" folks now. Next thing you know they'll be wanting you to donate a couple for the city museum. That would be nice. Again, congrats.
 
Thanks Ken and Ted, yea... so now if you want to come to my shop, you'll actually be coming to my "studio".
But don't worry, I won't ask you to take your shoes off, and feel free to spit your tobacco just outside the studio foyer.
 
LOL!! I managed a "design Studio" at my last employed job (about 13 years ago) ...the CEO would get irritated when I called it a shop....and I did often.
 
Yea, one of the commissioners was telling my wife....he's a real artist you know, I'm thinking....ah, I can't wait to use that one later.
So today we were driving down the road, I reminded her of that comment and I asked her, so..........how's it feel being married to an artist?, bet it feels pretty cool huh ? - that got a pretty good chuckle and roll of the eyes. :rolleyes: Ha ha.
 
Good for you Steve! I find in today's world I am more inspired by things I would not expect to be inspired by, at all.

You never know how all this knife business is going to be taken. Case in point I was at the VA facility the other day to have another MRI. There's a sign at the door that says NO Weapons of any kind allowed! The girl that was doing the MRI told me to empty my pockets. So everything came out and was tossed into my upside down hat! So when the pocket knife hit the hat, I caught a look from her.

I looked at her and told her Sugar, I hope that don't make you nervous, I been carrying a pocket knife since I was about 8 yrs old. She replied nope,...…….you remind me of my Daddy, he always said he always felt naked with out his. Exactly I said!!

Then I got to thinking this is considered federal property and maybe I need to start leaving it in the truck!! Strange world we live in any more! So good for you Steve!!!
 
Yea Cliff, about ten years ago I was going to the same specialist at a hospital every two weeks for over a year. The first couple months there was a cute very young nurse that noticed my belt knife and every time she made sure to tell me that
"I don't think you should be wearing that in here", I always said I'd try to remember next time.
Finally I asked her...is that what you think or is there some rule posted at the entrance down stairs next to where that guard sits?
because I haven't seen anything posted anywhere that said I couldn't bring my knife in here...she never mentioned it again.
 
That’s a refreshing story. Art isn’t just paintings and pottery. Knife making is art and a pure craft form. Your knives meet that criteria.
I’m glad you were able to display your knives and they were well received.
 
Congrats! That's awesome! Well, at least know if you're acting strange you can just say you are an artist, and everybody will understand.
 
Thanks guys, and your right Anthony, the next time the wife gives me that crazy look and asks..."what's wrong with you?"
which actually I've heard a lot over the years......I'll just look at her and say, hey, I'm an artist, remember? we got our quirks. o_O
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top