Fitzgerald's interest in forging was in no way a romantic one. He primarily used forging as a means of manipulation. With his direct method of sculpting also applied to the forging process, he now had new means of exploring his media of choice, mild steel. The method of forging, which has a linear emphasis, was naturally of interest to Fitzgerald. The forging process also changed his notions about mass. Mass was no longer considered simply a large collection of matter, or a large, mutable entity. "Even a tapered line has mass at the tip." It is important to note that Fitzgerald¹s interest in forging was secondary to his sculptural ends. Another area of his studies at SIU-C was in casting metal (bronze, and mostly cast iron). The casting and forging experience while in graduate school contributed greatly to his means of creating art. Fitzgerald plans to return to these interests as a means of sculpting when the physical demands of large-scale works are greater than he is physically capable of. There are limitations in scale with both of these processes. Even in his undergraduate studies he was showing an interest in larger works. A considerable number of his works while at SIU-C were larger than life-size. These works, while still having a linear emphasis, were approaching monumental scale. It is in these larger works that his interest in verticality emerges. To put to use his new knowledge and experiences at SIU-C, he continued to return to Evansville quite frequently to get metal to construct his sculptures. He was still using materials supplied by industry, and this relationship with industry was still a source for his aesthetic building blocks