The TallGrass Forge Blog

Hanging Flower Pot Holder

Our booth, presenting trellises, candleholders, hanging pot holders, fire pokers, sculptures, & samples of flowers

Screech Owl in one of the Scenic Gardens

Wagon Wheel Garden Accent piece w/hand-forged leaves & vines

Sculptures, crosses, garden accents & candleholders

We enjoyed our time at the Wichita Garden Show from March 3rd through the 7th.  We met many wonderful people and made some great connections. What a beautiful show. The Scenic Gardens were just amazing!  We are appreciative of all of the wonderful feedback that we received from the people who came into the booth and other more seasoned vendors, landscape designers and from friends and family who came to visit. Overall, it was a smooth, rewarding, and exciting time. We hope to hear from many of those who expressed interest in having work done for yards throughout Wichita and other neighboring areas in Kansas. We look forward to working hard to create quality and unique pieces to accent beautiful gardens. We would be truly honored!

Our friend, Joah,  took these photos while he and several other friends  were out at the shop making things for Christmas gifts. They turned out really well, and we appreciate all that they have helped us with.  

 We are headed to The Wichita Garden Show.  There’s a lot to do and make, but mainly, we are just excited to be going and experiencing the whole thing.

Here is a picture or two of some candleholders that I have made. It requires heating the metal and bending it around on the horn of the anvil. Some are about 2 1/2 to 3 ft. tall, and others are smaller.

This is a sculpture I completed some time ago. I am going to release it to a new owner soon, and I just thought I would post a few pictures of it.  Part of this sculpture reminds me of footage that I saw of The Great Depression out here in Central Kansas.  The birds didn’t have anything to use for nests, so they literally picked up pieces of barbed wire to use for nesting materials.  I saw that footage after making this, but it still rings true. Birds are survivors and they do it so gracefully. I draw inspiration from them and their fluid movements…they are also environmental “sign posts” for the balance in our greater environment. This bird is just finding balance.

Here are some pictures from the most recent railing made from found objects that was installed this December. There are found farm implements and the brand from their family farm incorporated into the railing. The woman that I built this for saw some pictures of leaves in a book she looked at, and she picked them out because they looked like tractor seats to her. So, the shape of the leaves in this project reflects her choice.

This photo is definitely not the best, but I plan on posting professional ones soon.  This is the current project that I am working on for another home in Greensburg.  This is just the railing, and within a week, I will complete the installation by adding the cap rail and other finishing touches, as well as the smaller railing.  This piece is also made of found objects from their farm, as well as their family’s brand…and hand-forged leaves and vine details.

Found objects and Hand-forged leaves and vines

Railing Detail

found object and forged iron back side details

This past October, I installed this railing in a home in Greensburg.  It is made out of found objects from their family farm and from another nearby farm, along with hand-forged iron details.  This project took several months to complete.  I hope that it will bring them many years of enjoyment.

Hello, We’re nearing the completion of the Greensburg GreenTown Eco-Silo home. It’s really been a good one…doing it “on the fly” and more free-flowing than most architectural pieces I’ve worked on.

There are many people to thank: everyone at GreenTown: including John, Mason, Emily, Taylor, Catherine and Donald. Nancy who provided the farm implements; Scott Eller for helping me fix welds with his portable welder; Mike who has helped me with flooring issues, etc.; and my wife, Lisa, for her help installing, running ideas over, waxing, and all. (There are probably a few that I need to add and will do it in the next post! )

This is the current project that I’m working on over the last several weeks. All of the farm equipment was donated to Greensburg Greentown by a generous person with local ties. It’s been an enjoyable process, and as always, I have learned a lot. Each project presents it’s own set of challenges and rewards. It should be installed soon.