“This was the fastest raising I have ever done!” -Adam Whitney

When it comes to raising, few have accomplished the skill and complexity of Penland Resident Artist Adam Whitney. Raising is the craft of making hollow, three-dimensional forms from flat sheets of metal. Creating a cup like this would normally take Adam at least 5 hours. During last weekend’s Fire on the Mountain Blacksmithing Festival demonstration, he worked aggressively to complete the piece for a rapt audience in one hour and fifteen minutes. This, he tells us, was risky because the material could have cracked. Luckily, Adam’s skill was equal to the task, and the result of the demo was a silver cup with gorgeous texture!

During his ongoing Penland residency, Adam has created intricate forms using raising, chasing, and repoussé. His most complex piece, based on the ancient Mediterranean rhyton form, took him over a year and a half and countless hours to complete.

Fire on the Mountain is an annual celebration of blacksmithing in downtown Spruce Pine, NC. Penland is one of the festival’s co-sponsors. This year, guests enjoyed demonstrations by Jim Cooper, David Burnette, David Harper Clemons, Suzanne Pugh, and Hiroko Yamada. The festival also included an astonishing array of vendors, forge-off competitions, and Penland’s popular Hands-On Tent where guests of all ages learned how to create their own barbecue skewer.