Blacksmith Bottle Opener by Francis Leidinger "Bronze" CBA Open-it-with-Art

Description

CBA Open-it-with Art - Contest Entry
This hand forged unique bottle opener was donated to the California Blacksmith Association (CBA) by Artist Blacksmith Francis Leidinger. Francis is well known for his hand forged kitchen utensils. He has repeatedly been juried into the prestigious American Crafts Council Show at Fort Mason.
This is a unique item forged of a silicon bronze alloy to last a lifetime. It measures 4-5/8 x 1-3/4 inches by 1/4 inch thick. The ruler shown in the photo is not included in this offer.
The conference sticker in the 2nd photo is included. The 3rd photo shows other works submitted to the contest.
The Open-it-with-Art contest is a fund raiser for the CBA that was originally to be part of the 2020 Spring Conference. Unfortunately that event had to be cancelled due to the Pandemic. So we changed this contest to an on-line event. Twenty-three of the leading artist blacksmith artisans of California sent in entries. In addition to the entries for the contest several artists sent addition works to be sold to support the CBA.
The Open-it-with-Art concept was created by a great friend of the CBA and promoter of modern artist blacksmithing, Joe Koches. Joe is no longer with us but his spirit lives on in the many artists of the CBA. The concept is to create something functional and also beautiful; imbued with originality and the personality of the creator in a way that factory production never provides.
The California Blacksmith Association is a non-profit (501c3) corporation dedicated to educating smiths and preserving the art and craft of blacksmithing.