Upcoming Events

    When and Where

 April 7, 2023 5pm – 8pm at The Village Gallery of Local Artists located at 6512 AZ-179, Sedona, AZ 86351. Visit the gallery website for more information.

   What is the Event?

Rich and Sarah will be the featured artists for the Month of April. Come see them at the first Friday Art Walk 5pm-8pm on April 7^th, 2023. They will be demonstrating steam bending of their spoon and fork sets. This demo will show the process used to create the steam bent spoon and fork sets as well as all the other items that are created from the cutoffs that come from the blanks. There will be food and drink and you are welcome to ask questions and learn about their artwork.

   Background on Steam Bending

Steam bending is used in many different applications where solid wood with a curve is required. Steaming the wood softens the wood fibers allowing them to flex without breaking, which would normally happen if you tried to bend dry wood. Also once bent and held in place until the wood cools and dries the wood will hold that shape. If you were to try and force the wood to bend without steam it would try to return to its original shape. Bending wood using steam allows the wood grain to remain parallel to the shape eliminating the cross-grain areas in the curve that are prone to breaking. Some of the Items crafted by steam bending include chair parts such as back rests, legs and the rockers of a rocking chair.