Flaming Lotus Girls, Tympani Lambada crew, photo by Joe Dacanay

I had the most amazing Burning Man to date (though it seems that happens every year). I had the distinct pleasure of helping build Tympani Lambada with the Flaming Lotus Girls over the past summer and then installing it on playa during build week. It was hot. Really hot. It was a lot of hard work. A lot of late nights. But oh-so-very worth it. I remember last year when I brought Propolis I felt so much more connected to the event as a whole. Well, working with a large crew on a collaborative piece only developed an even deeper connection to the event and the community.

That would have been amazing if that's all I had done, but I also helped build the Serpent Twins, two amazing serpent cars by Jon Sarriugarte. Seeing these two cars roam around the playa is just fantastically wonderfully delightful, not to mention that my heart melted when I got to drive one.

Grinding the Serpent's fins, photo by Kyrsten Mate

Since May of this year I’ve been spending much of my time down in San Francisco/Oakland helping out with a couple of Burning Man projects. After having brought my own piece last year I wanted to just help out someone else and not have to worry about the logistics, funding, etc. Also, having mostly worked on my own I wanted to see what goes into a large scale art piece. The first one I am helping out with is the Serpent Twins by Jon Sarriugarte and Kyrsten Mate. They make beautifully crafted and whimsical art cars, and these ones are no exception. I’m learning a lot about what it takes to make a well-made and detail-oriented piece. Check out some photos from the studio.

I am also helping out the Flaming Lotus Girls with their piece, Tympani Lambada. The FLG are one of the main reasons I ever started working with metal in the first place so I am quite excited to have come full circle and be working with them. They are a fully volunteer group and in fact, anyone can come help out whether or not they have any metal working experience. Their pieces are a small miracle, and a testament to the hard work that they put into their pieces. It has been an incredible experience seeing what goes into a large scale fire, LED, and sound sculpture built in the desert. So much love and dedication.