It was Bernie LaForest’s love of the natural world and experiential learning style that motivated him to plant a seed of inspiration on the unembellished campus of the North Lake Tahoe Boys & Girls Club. “Flight,” a sculpture LaForest donated to the club, rises 14 feet from the ground and features two copper-forged birds, each with 5-foot wingspans.
“The birds first became an inspiration on an ascent of El Captain in Yosemite Valley,” said the Kings Beach blacksmith. “From my cliff-side perspective, I witnessed an incredible display of mid-flight acrobatics by two black-winged ravens. The birds seemed to playfully collide in midair, entwine in a spiral free fall, and disengage at the very last minute, only then to rise again and repeat the ritual.”
This first attempt resulted in three connected birds. It was suggestive of birds circling in flight, but the design limited the freedom and movement of the birds. So LaForest went back to the forge to create something less restrained, resulting in two free-hanging birds that move independently.
The birds were built using copper flat bar; the wings were forged from one 60-inch piece and the head from a separate piece measuring one-half inch by 2 inches by 10 inches. He fused those together to form the whole bird and forged the tail from the joined area. The birds are suspended on tapered stainless steel poles arching above a fabricated base.
