ArtBuzz

Fire Pit Story: Raven gives the gift of fire to mankind

Raven's Gift of Fire: Storytelling Firebowl
click thumbnail to view larger image. Design © 2005-2009, John T Unger

People love to tell stories around a fire… so it made sense to me to create some narrative fire pits that tell stories themselves. And what better story to begin with than the story of how mankind was given fire?

Of course there are many, many versions of this story. For this project, I chose a Lenape People legend in which Raven brings the gift of fire.

In the first section, you see people huddled together for warmth, cold and unhappy under a freezing sky. If you look closely, Raven is observing this from the top of a tree just below the moon. He decides to take action.

Raven flies up to the sun and grabs fire in his beak, then flies down to give the people the gift of fire. It was the smoke and hot coal that he carried which turned his feathers black. Upon receiving Ravens gift, the people build a roaring blaze and dance around in celebration. Civilization ensues.

Dimensions: 30" diameter x 23" high overall. Bowl is 23" deep.

This is a one time custom firepit design that will never be exactly repeated and has been sold. If you'd like to commission a similar piece, call or email to discuss pricing, stories or lead time.

The 3 Little Pigs: A Story in Steel

3 Little Pigs Story in Steel, 2006 Recycled steel, 14" H x 26" W x 6" D Collaboration with Mya Smith Buy it at Checkered House Gallery
My daughter Mya is interested in making comics and she's pretty amazing at it…draws and writes very well. So when she came out this summer, I thought it would be cool to collaborate on some narrative steel sculptures together. She picked the stories, and  decided how to lay out the image so that it would carry a narrative without words. I did the cutting and welding and offered a wee bit of editorial assistance in the few places where I thought the image or flow of the story could be stronger. Even though we worked pretty closely together on these, I think Mya could have done them alone if she wasn't a little bit afraid of the sparks in the shop. The house is made from an old refrigerator drawer and the rest is recycled steel plate. The wind from the wolf's mouth is copper plated welding rod. The plants are scrap left over from cutting out the flames on the Pot-deFeu recycled grills. This piece sold to Checkered House Gallery the minute Tess saw it. But that's okay… you can buy it from the gallery if you hurry. I don't expect it will last too long.
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Little Red Riding Hood Narrative Sculpture

Little Red Riding Hood Narrative Sculpture, 2006 Recycled steel, 8.75" H x 20.25" W x 10" D Collaboration with Mya Smith
Purchase Little Red Riding Hood for $230 ($200 plus $30 S+H).
Little Red Riding Hood is a narrative sculpture that my daughter Mya and I collaborated on. The drawing is hers, the cutting and welding I did. I love the way that she used the tree and the headboard to separate the story into three panels with three scenes. This one was almost the end of the process, because I made her re-draw the woodcutter about 12 times to get more of a dynamic swing to his axe… she was really frustrated by that, but in the end we both felt the results were worth it.
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