News

Sunday 20th June

Branch Forging Workshop

The Branch Forging Workshop produced many branches and twigs for the tree. Over 20 blacksmiths attended to form a clanging, ringing production line of branch makers. We had both power hammers working most of the day and all forges fired up. Thanks to our wonderful support crew who provided lunch; Pam, Nancy, Vicky, Colleen, Sandra, Steve, Phil and Rick, who worked the BBQ. Our next step is sorting the leaves into groups and sending leaves and branches to our welders to put together.

Saturday 12 June

Today we finished counting the leaves from our friends in the Irish Artist Blacksmiths Association and some of our Australian-made sponsored leaves and we have finally reached a count of over 3000 leaves for the tree. There are a few more leaves to come in, but we're almost at our final count. Thankyou to all the amazing blacksmiths from over 20 countries who have forged leaves for the tree, especially our hard working local blacksmiths who have been forging leaves for over a year for our sponsors.

The photography of all the international leaves has now been completed, so stay tuned over the next fortnight for a our new leaf gallery to be uploaded. For all of you who have kindly supported the creation of the tree by sponsoring a leaf, we still have about 300 sponsored leaves to photograph and another 800 images to process and email out. We had no idea when we started this project how big the tree would grow, so although many of you have been waiting months to see an image of your sponsored leaf, we still have a way to go to get them all out to you. Many thanks for your patience.

Keep an eye out for the Melbourne Herald Sun in the next weeks, there should be a story running on the Tree Project. If you know any businesses who would like to help us with sponsorship of the large branches or the trunk, please email and she'll send branch sponsorship details to you. Money raised from branch sponsorship will enable us to purchase the steel needed for the large sections of the tree and have them forged and assembled.

Thursday 3 June

At the 2009 Bushfire Royal Commission today we met the staff who have raised money to sponsor a branch. Among the leaves supported by this branch are three leaves forged by Cliff Overton bearing the names of the Commissioners. The stainless steel branch will be stamped with a message from the staff at the Royal Commission. Thankyou to all the staff who helped raise money for the first sponsored branch.

ABC 774 Red Symons interviews Tree Project blacksmith Paul Mills

Paul Mills, one of our Head Blacksmiths and Coordinators was interviewed by Red Symons this week. Listen to the interview above.

We've also appeared in the Melbourne Age on Tuesday 25 May: Blacksmiths Fight Fire with Fire

ABC 774 Jon Faine interviews Tree Project blacksmith Cliff Overton

Cliff Overton, CFA member and Tree Project blacksmith has been interviewed by Jon Faine recently on ABC Radio. If you would like to help us with sponsorship for the branches or trunk of the tree please

Monday 17 May

Today the rocks, one of which will sit at the base of the tree, the other to be used as a base for a plaque, were moved into Strathewen. They will sit there until the site of the tree is decided and the substructure built. If you're in Strathewen you'll see them on the right hand side of Strathewen Road about 100m before the community centre where the road forks. Thanks again to the great guys at CMW Design and Construct and Associated Mobile Cranes in Hurstbridge. Also thanks to Malcolm Hackett for lending us a bit of real estate to store the rocks.

Monday 10 May

It's been the plan to find a large interesting looking rock and have the tree coming out from the rock with forged steel roots wrapping around it. Today we went shopping for large rocks and found some great hunks of bluestone which may be suitable. The rock will be drilled, the hole being the thickness of the trunk, and cut in half. Once the tree is installed, the rock will be fitted around the base. Blacksmiths will forge roots on site and weld them to the base of the trunk and bend them around the rock. Many thanks to CMW Design and Construct who are donating the rock and to Associated Mobile Cranes who have offered to transport it to Strathewen.

Wednesday 28 April

Last week we hung some small branches in the gallery outside the Royal Commission hearing rooms. The Royal Commission was established to investigate the causes and responses to the Black Saturday fires. The staff are profoundly affected by the hearings which have been held for over a year and continue until the end of May. They are very supportive of the Tree Project. Many thanks to Quentin Fogarty and the staff at the Royal Commision for allowing us to display the branches in their final exhibition.

These branches will eventually be attached to the tree. Branches on display are by Doug Tarrant: Australia, Henk Welten: Australia, Brian Brazeal: USA, Michael Kaczmar: Germany and C.H. Friedrich: Switzerland

The Black Saturday Gallery, located on level 11, 222 Exhibition Street, was established on 24 August 2009 to give artists from fire-affected areas an opportunity to display their works. The current exhibition includes work from Strathewen Primary School students and paintings and prints from established and emerging artists. It is the fourth and final exhibition and will run through to the end of the hearings which are due to finish on 26 May. Everyone is welcome to visit the Gallery when the Commission is sitting. Normal hearing days are Monday to Thursday, between 9.30am and 4.30pm.

Wednesday 7 March

We are sad to say that our oldest blacksmith who forged leaves for the tree has passed away. Bill Bunting was a founding member of the Australian Blacksmiths Association (Victoria) and lived to the grand age of 91. Bill worked at Caslakes Metalcraft from the early 1930's until his retirement and was one of the craftsmen who produced the forged coat of arms at the High Court in Canberra and many of the ornate gates and fences around Melbourne including those around Melbourne University, Melbourne Ladies' College and the Myer family house. At his funeral today, around his coffin, were placed the leaves of copper and steel he forged and that will be included on the tree. Our condolences to Bill's wonderful wife Myrna, his family, fellow blacksmiths and friends.

Sunday 21 March

At Brocky's Big Day Out in Hurstbridge this weekend Garth and Leanne Tander came and forged two copper leaves for the tree. The blacksmiths have only a few more leaves to make and are starting to forge branches and twigs. Discussions about forging the major branches and trunk resume next week at our engineers meeting. Thanks to Catherine Reeves for the photos of Garth and Leanne and to the Peter Brock Foundation for hosting the blacksmiths at their last public demonstration before the major forging commences.

Thursday 10 December

The leaves from London have arrived in Australia! Five boxes weighing around 30kg each came in a couple of days ago. We are expecting the leaves from California to arrive some time today. It will take us a while to photograph, count and catalogue them all, so expect to see photos some time in the New Year. Thankyou to all the wonderful people who made this possible; the good people at Qantas Freight, Eamon Tansey and Rob Rickards in Australia, Shawn Lovell, Eden Sanders and Brian Cardoza in the USA, Lucy Quinell, Sean Taylor and John Bruce in the UK, the blacksmiths in the Ukraine who got the European leaves to London and all our other organisers.

Our Head Blacksmith and Surveyor, Doug Tarrant found a good pole just outside the Strathewen meeting centre where he could illustrate how tall the tree is likely to be. If the tree is roughly 8m tall, it will just touch the base of the 'pot' on the pole. If you're in Strathewen, you'll see Doug's mark on the pole. He's also supplied us with our first rough image of what the tree might look like at that height and with around 3000 leaves. The Strathewen Community Renewal Association is currently considering a number of possible sites for the tree.

We would like to announce our first Tree Project romance! Blacksmith and Engineer Ash Naylor recently proposed to his girlfriend Katherine Smith, also an Engineer working on the Tree Project. They will be married late next year. Congratulations!

Saturday 28 November

Our leaves from London are on the move. Qantas Freight report that five boxes of leaves from the blacksmiths of the UK and Europe are at the freight depot in London ready to be flown to Australia. The leaves from California are not far behind.

Sunday 15 November

The Open Gardens event was held in Nillumbik shire this weekend. The Open Gardens is a day where local people open up their gardens for the public. As part of this event, Doug and Cliff forged some leaves at the Arthurs Creek Hall. The hall is a landmark in the area and served as a relief centre for many weeks after the Black Saturday fires. On display we had a branch for the tree that Doug has put together. Our huge branch with 400 leaves is a little hard to transport, so this little branch with its lovely gumnuts was a perfect size to bring to the event. Many thanks to Pam who works at every one of our demonstration events as support crew. Thanks also to Gayle and Lois, Open Gardens organisers, for having us.

Sunday 8 November

Many thanks to Eltham Rotary Club for having us at the Eltham Town Fair, a brilliant event full of market stalls, live music, talent shows, art shows and great food and wine. It was an exceptionally hot day, yet Doug and Steve battled the heat and forged away to the fascination of many young boys who had never seen a blacksmith at work before. We didn't have a camera at this event, so if anyone has a good picture of the blacksmiths please send it to us!

Wednesday 14 October

We've been so busy, it's been a while since we've updated the news. Most significantly, we've now received over 2000 leaves and, with Qantas Freight, we are currently organising to bring the leaves from London and California to Australia which will up the count even more. We're also preparing for our next meeting with our wonderful volunteer engineers and working on getting pictures of all the blacksmiths leaves we've received up on the website. Recently we've celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Australian Blacksmiths Association (Victoria) with lots of forging, an exhibition and free demonstrations for local schools. We've also travelled up to the Gold Coast to attend the AFAC Conference and run a forging demonstration there and meet some of the amazing people from outside Victoria who came to our state to work following Black Saturday. See below for photos from the AFAC Conference and our 20th Anniversary.

22-25 September

The 16th annual Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council Conference was held on the Gold Coast this September. The conference is attended by around 2000 firefighters, researchers and emergency management professionals. Over the course of three days many seminars are held to present the latest developments in emergency service research and practice. There's some pretty nifty gear on display too, including trucks, boats, pumps and mystifying technology.

Many thanks to AFAC, especially Naomi Brown, for inviting and sponsoring a few of us to be there and represent the Tree Project. We were joined by three great Queenslanders who helped with our forging demonstration during the conference. Matt Russell, who couldn't stay for the forging during the day, dropped his anvil and some gear off to for us to use. Blacksmith Mike Dowdall and his assistant David Porter stayed for the forging and, along with Doug and Cliff, produced some stainless steel leaves and branches for the tree. We'd like to thank the very cool blacksmith from Mt. Isa who, although he couldn't attend the conference, sent a couple of petrol vouchers to us to give the QLD blacksmiths.

We were touched to meet people who hadn't heard of the Tree Project, but who had been in Victoria fighting the Black Saturday fires or working on the immediate recovery. They were very happy to learn of the project and watch the forging. We had some great leaves on display from blacksmiths around the world. Getting a lot of attention is our collection of beautiful copper leaves made by first year jewellery apprentices from NMIT, Preston, also the bronze sprig from Bjoern Loenze from Germany, the three leaves from Jim Masterton from Tennesse and the leaf with the cute bug from Joseph Blodgett. The Black Saturday fires were a big topic at the conference and many people were interested in the Tree Project.

17-20 September

The Australian Blacksmiths Association (Victoria) Inc. celebrated its 20th Anniversary at The Briars Park, Mt. Martha this weekend. Following two days of school demonstrations, the main event began on Friday night with an opening of an exhibition of blacksmiths' work. On display was a branch of the tree with around 400 leaves. We had over 30 blacksmiths attend the event and even the wives and girlfriends had a leaf forging class during the weekend. Many blacksmiths came from afar including a couple from Western Australia, a few from NSW and the ACT and a great group from South Australia who are starting the first South Australian Blacksmiths' Association.

Hundreds of people came to watch the forging events and be inspired by the metalwork. We would like to thank the Days of Knights and Chips the Viking Jeweller for being part of the celebrations and for showing their unique skills. Very special thanks to the staff at The Briars Park for having us and who, for months, helped us organise and promote the event. (Especially Sue and Steve, thanks!)

Tuesday 25 August

Today we received a box of 76 beautiful leaves from France. These were made by a group of blacksmiths at Carillons d'Enclumes, in June. Carillons d'Enclumes means 'anvil chimes' and is a two day blacksmithing event held in Fontenilles, South of France.

From our friends in France in May this year:

Hello Blacksmith,

We are a small blacksmith association in the South West of France, called "Lou Foc" which in ancient local dialect means "the fire". We'd like to participate in the Tree project and make leaves for your tree, during a open demonstration that we'll hold on June 20-21st. We'll have some Blacksmith friends around and some of them will probably like the idea too.

Some of us work for Airbus in Toulouse, and I happen to work with Qantas on their A380s. They will gladly carry our package back home.

Life is only worth being shared, bit by bit, and we'd be honoured to share some bits of ours in your gumtree...

Philippe Milési
Association Lou Foc - Président
Forge de Fontenilles

From July this year:

Bonjour Paul,

Last 20-21 June during our Carillons d'Enclumes, some 39 blacksmithes could make 67 leaves and nuts. We are still collecting some and are up to 74 today. It is not a lot, but all have been made from the heart. Everyone loved the idea, and was proud to participate.

We also had stainless steel rods for free from a scrapyard where we left the owner with this wide smile on his face like, "Here's why I woke up this morning. Just help yourself boys, as much as you need!"

Although we widely spread your dimensional requirements, they may not all correspond to specs, except for stainless steel and copper. French are a bit like that.

The next Qantas A380 is due leaving Toulouse Late July or early August. The Qantas crew is already in Toulouse for technical follow-up, and they all came several times to our demonstration, where they sure had a good time (and some of a surprise also...) They will carry the box with our leaves for your tree, along with the list of all the smiths that have made them.

Have a good "bing bing" day

Philippe

From the letter enclosed with the leaves sent to Australia:

Last 20 & 21 June in Fontenilles, South of France, the local blacksmithing Lou Foc association decided to join the A.B.A. Tree Project during their yearly Carillons d'Enclumes demonstration.

Some 40 blacksmiths answered the call and 76 leaves and nuts were made. Some are young, some know better, some are master craftsmen, some are French, some are not, all shared a bit of their big heart with their Australian copmpanions, and all were happy and pround to participate in the Tree Project.

Hearfelt thanks to the blacksmiths of Lou Foc for their contribution to the Tree Project, c'est magnifique! Merci bien. Thanks also to the good people at Qantas Freight who delivered the leaves to us free of charge.

Wednesday 12 August

Our first meeting with engineers. At the moment we're discussing the substructure of the tree (steel roots and concrete), transport (cranes & a large truck), assembly and installation. This is our first stage of planning the major construction and fabrication.

Tuesday 11 August

The tree is closer to finding a home. Tonight the Strathewen Community Renewal Association formally accepted the tree to be placed in Strathewen. Although the tree is for everyone affected by the fires, those who lost their lives and all those who fought the fires, we know that the community of Strathewen will provide a beautiful and peaceful place for the tree. With still much planning and rebuilding ahead of them, the Strathewen community will take time to consider the best place. Thankyou to the Strathewen Community Renewal Association for their warm welcome.

Monday 3 August

The weekend of August 1st & 2nd was a working event for blacksmiths forging leaves and branches and for welders assembling the branches. This was our largest turnout of blacksmiths and welders with over 25 attending, bringing portable forges, anvils and TIG welding machines. On Saturday evening Flannagan's Mob entertained the blacksmiths and guests with Irish music. Food for the two days was kindly provided by the local people of Cottles Bridge. Many thanks to Colleen & Paul, Alison & Peter, Sandra, Annette & Gary, Sian & Rob, Pam & Rachel (great cupcakes!), Pete and Rachel, Sandie, Vicky, Maree & Brian, Kathryn & Ash for stamping leaves, Flannagan's Mob and Kennards for the loos. Many of the leaves made have gone to various blacksmith's workshops to be stamped, so haven't been counted yet, we estimate around 200 leaves were made over the weekend as well as many branches that the welders will continue to piece together over the next week.

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