Hot time

Weather conditions forced plenty of rejiggering of the schedule for the 23rd annual Iron Pour at Mesalands Community College last week.

The event that gives artists from across the globe the opportunity to pour molten metal into sculpture molds was supposed to hold two consecutive days of that activity - one on Thursday for new or inexperienced artists with small artworks, then the traditional Friday pour for veteran participants with larger art pieces.

But on Thursday evening, a thunderstorm rolled into the area, forcing the postponement of the pouring to Friday for safety reasons. Even a raindrop can cause molten metal to pop violently or even explode. And virtually all of Mesalands' furnaces are outdoors.

On Friday, the doubled-up pouring session was delayed from noon to early evening because of scorching temperatures that reached 105 degrees by afternoon. Organizers told participants to rest, then prepare for up to eight hours of pouring iron that evening as temperatures fell.

Much to Iron Pour founder and Mesalands professor emeritus D'Jean Jawrunner and other participants' delight, they managed to fill more than 200 molds from 42 artists just before midnight.

"We were haulin', and the furnaces worked," Jawrunner said.

Despite having to do a lot of work in a relatively short time in still-formidable heat, Jawrunner said they encountered no major problems and no injuries - save for one.

"It was an adventure, and there's always a few things that go quirky that you didn't expect," she said Saturday. "But it went well, and everyone was safe. You can't ask for more than that. Everyone is happy and busy this morning."

Jawrunner herself was that notable minor injury. She sported a black eye Saturday after she bumped heads with another artist while bending to pack a mold.

"You should see the other guy," she joked with a laugh.

The big Friday event featured the traditional opening ceremony, except it was held indoors because of the oppressive heat outside.

Jawrunner and Mesalands fine-arts professor Joel Kiser each lit a sage smudge stick and waved the smoke around each participant to ward off bad luck and create better vibes for the arduous work ahead.

They offered sacrificial Peeps marshmallow candy. Many participants simply ate them, but others placed the Peeps onto the hot furnaces, where they soon began to smoke or melt into brightly colored sludge.

If the Iron Pour gave an award to the longest-traveled participant, that would have been Poppy Woodeson, who lives in Brighton on the south coast of England. This was the artist's third Iron Pour.

Woodeson first latched on to the event in 2016 after coming to know Kiser and then fulfilling an artist-in-residence program in Roswell.

Woodeson's reasons for coming back to Tucumcari to work with molten metal matches others'.

"Making iron art is not something you can feasibly do on your own. You need this group of people coming together to work, to make the furnace run, to make the molds. That's definitely part of it.

"But it's also brilliant fun. It's incredibly satisfying. Every time I come here, I meet new people, and there's seven or eight people who are friends. You hang out with your mates, and you make work. You learn something every time and you make new friends. And you hopefully leave with some unfeasibly heavy new art that you can fly across the Atlantic."

Yes, Woodeson brings back iron art in carry-on luggage, which makes for interesting conversations with security personnel at airports.

Preparing to board a flight out of Roswell not long ago, Woodeson said one of the airport's bag inspectors apparently recognized the artist and said: "What new sculpture do you have this time?"

"It's like I'm building a fan club with TSA," Woodeson said, laughing.