With the Rocky Mountains in her backyard, Tarryn Forai (Welder Apprentice 2013), doesn’t have to look far to find inspiration for her metalworking. She takes notes from the flowers and animals around her to transform cold metal into warm and delicate, three-dimensional designs.
Forai always knew she wanted to make artwork with metal, saying it was her motivation when she began welding at 18-years-old. After her apprenticeship, she gained experience with different types of welding techniques while working in various shops in Lethbridge before moving to Crowsnest Pass, Alta. and branching out into plasma cutting and sculptural work. Forai got involved with the local art gallery there and attends markets to get her name out into the community and, through hard work and word of mouth, she now takes commissions for her larger-than-life projects.
“Usually, people have an idea in mind, and I just try to make it come to life as best as I can,” she says. A scroll through her Instagram profile reveals several large octopuses, feathered birds and other handcrafted animals.
Accuracy is key, and when Forai was asked to create pieces for a winery in the Okanagan region in B.C., she studied landscape and fauna to make pieces inspired by the area. Over the years, she’s experimented with various techniques, explaining that her inspiration goes through phases.
“There have been times when it’s just been leaves; I just want leaves of all different shapes and sizes,” says Forai. “But one thing that’s always been constant through everything is trout. I just started making little trout and then, as time went on, they evolved into different shapes and I tried different ways of doing them, like adding more three-dimensional aspects to them.”
And, just like her trout, Forai continues to evolve and learn. She took a graphic design course to better understand design theories to improve her artwork. It gave her the tools she needed to walk through the design process with her clients digitally, allowing her to work with individuals from out of town.
Along with her growth comes plenty to be proud of. A few years ago, a friend of Forai’s commissioned a memorial for his family’s homestead in Iowa – her biggest piece to date. She designed it to incorporate the landscape of the state, even pouring brass to add life to the corn stalks. Sadly, her friend passed away before the piece was finished, but his brothers made the drive from Iowa to pick it up.
“At first it was kind of overwhelming, but as the process went on, it definitely came to life,” she says of making the piece. “Because he had passed away, it felt like he was there with me. Seeing how happy they were was one of my best moments for sure.”
Forai credits her instructors at Lethbridge Polytechnic for creating a supportive environment saying, “without my apprenticeship, things would be very different and I’m always so grateful I did that.” She jokingly adds she was “sad welding was only three years.”
Although she was the only woman in her class at the time, Forai has seen an increase of women in the male-dominated industry and says that with a diverse range of career opportunities, there’s always room for more women in welding.
“Whatever route they want to go down with their welding, whether it’s arts or working on a pipeline, it’s always awesome to see women taking it on and excelling at it,” she says.
To see more of Forai’s work, visit www.tarrynlouiseart.com or follow her Instagram page @tarrynlouiseart.
