Bio

Blacksmithing was the only method that iron could be worked for over 3,000 years.  It was in the early 20th century that blacksmithing started to get pushed out by the advent of electricity. This allowed the electric welder, power tools and equipment to do the work cheaper and faster. By 1960 there were not many skilled blacksmiths still alive so a few people wrote  books on it and some associations were formed to teach these skills to young smiths eager to learn this craft. I was one of the lucky ones to have been taught by these old masters.

I was inspired to learn the blacksmithing trade back at Expo 86 in Vancouver while watching a blacksmith demonstrate his skills with hot iron. At the time I was a professional mechanic so the change to working with iron and fire was not a difficult transition.  I began making many of my own mechanical tools , blacksmithing tools and various hardware items. 

As I was learning the trade I joined a blacksmithing club and attended many workshops and conventions and the next thing I knew I was off to Europe to expand my work experience where I worked for a few blacksmithing business’s. I came home and set up my own shop and began building most of my own tools and equipment for my shop and also began taking on commissions building iron furniture, hardware, fire tools and metal sculptures.

I’m retired now as I no longer do commission work. I feel that the potential this medium has to express the essence of a form of life as sculpture, to make hand tools or strong furniture is unrivalled in any other medium. The malleability of iron to become like clay when forged allows unlimited options open to the skilled smith. Getting a clear finish on the piece to reflect the beauty of it is time consuming as all the scale from forging needs to be removed but is far better than painting it.