In Finland there’s a certain tradition at New Year. People melt horse shoe shaped pieces of tin in a metal ladle, then quickly pour the molten tin into a bucket full of cold water. This makes the molten tin solidify in a random shape. When done at midnight, when the year changes, you can then view the shadow of the new tin piece against the wall in candle light and predict the upcoming year’s fortune from what you can see in the shadow. Since my very first artist book, I have often used this principle to create free-form, organic tin pieces for my books. And I’m at it again… I even happened to have a few “horse shoes” left from last New Year’s. Over the years I have also experimented by casting, but there’s really nothing as exciting as just pouring freely onto a wooden surface and very quickly manipulating the shape before it cools down. I like the immediacy of it, the surprise, the organic feel – as opposed to more controlled casting. Often I need to melt a piece several times over before I get something I’m happy with, and sometimes it turns out even better than I could have planned. (Jun09)