[TheForge] Saving ABANA (subcategories of gas)

[Ries Niemi]

I tend to think of artsy fartsy as implying that someone is impractical 
and loony. You know- an artist who makes things from stuff they get out 
of the dumpster, held together with hot glue.

I am not like that- I run a shop with 3 full time employees, cranking 
out literally tons of metalwork every year, working as a business in 
every sense of the word- most of my work is with governments, and I am 
as far from flaky as you can get- I work all the time with architects, 
engineers, beaurocrats, and city agencies.
We are way too professional for my tastes, but that is just how it has 
worked out. I have big accounts with all kinds of industrial suppliers, 
5 buildings,  and a million dollar liability policy. All of my work is 
equal to or better than the best industrial metal fabricators out there.

Its just that the end product is usually called "art". Not necessarily 
by me, always, but legally, on the contracts I have to sign which are 
as thick as phone books, thats what they call it.
I am at the art end of the spectrum, as opposed to the traditional 
metalsmith end, or the knifemaking end, or the farrier end, or the 
re-enactor end, or the weekend hobbyiest end. Amazing how many ends 
this blacksmithing thing has- must look kinda like an octopus.

ries