Sketchbook pages...

They certainly aren't great, but I think it's good to show a starting point in my drawing so that I have something to improve upon. Although, I may never be totally proud of my drawing, I do hope to someday have total confidence in my ability to communicate my ideas.

Practicing some "product design" sketching. I really like this style of drawing because it communicates very clearly.

Some ideas for my bowl connection.

A rough sketch for a table base. 

Some candle holders.

Observational sketches.

Design for wood joint.

A bi-level art nouveau style bench.

A rough design for the hubcap piece for the landfillart.org artist collective.

Details of little men for the sculpture.

1926 Zenith "Super Kim"

I love the way this bike looks. 

Force of Nature: The Sculpture of David Nash

Another great video about an artist who truly appreciates the process. David Nash loves the process so much that he often has no idea what he is going to make until he starts cutting a piece of wood.

It is referred to as the element of chance. I've heard it called serendipity. Whatever it is, it seems Mr. Nash has been working on the same exploration of materials module since 1967.

David Nash - Force of Nature

What is a designer? What do they do?

These are questions of the utmost importance to my peers and I. They are also questions for which I do not have  clear answers. At least I have a few years to figure it out. Who I really feel sorry for are the people who have been practicing "designers" for as long as I've been alive and still don't have a clue.

Frank Crimero seems to have the same questions I have and is moving forward with figuring out some answers. He's putting together a book about the role of the designer in the modern world and it looks quite interesting. Here is a link to his page on Kickstarter.com where he is getting his funding for the book. I pledged $5.00 for his project which gets me a digital copy of the book when it's finished, so I'm excited about that. I wish I could have pledged more.

The Shape of Design by Frank Crimero

What does 200 tons of corten steel look like on the side of the highway?

The Angel of the North by Antony Gormly is a must see if you are traveling to New Castle. It's 175 feet wide and 65 feet high!

On our way up to New Castle, it was dark so all you could see was this humongous winged body that was all black and just barely visible....very ominous.

On the way back it was daylight (well sort of) so I snapped a few pictures.

That's me at the base of it!

Me again at the bottom.

Big welds!

William Kentridge - Anything is Possible

Again, I'd like to thank Josh for sharing this video with me. This man is fascinating. His ability to see the process as the art is remarkable. I think we as blacksmiths have a lot to learn about our approach from this man.

This film is well worth an hour of your time for anyone who makes things.

William Kentridge - Anything is Possible

Bex Simon - It seems I'm not the only blacksmith in the world who cares about marketing!

So why is Bex Simon so cool you ask? Three reasons: She has a great blacksmith portfolio, she is a Hereford grad, and most importantly, she seems to be a student of marketing like myself.

Bex has a link on her website called "Branding", I shit you not! Has someone out there finally bridged the gap between ancient crafts-person and modern product designer? Judging by her slick website and pink anvil logo, it appears Miss Simon has put down the hand crank blower and picked up the imac, and I applaud her.

Blacksmiths do not simply exist to re-enact the past for crowds of tourists. We are contemporary craftspeople who have much to offer to the modern design world.

If more smiths conveyed an image like Bex Simon's, maybe I wouldn't be asked if I made horse shoes or worked at a renaissance fair as often.

Artist Blacksmith, Metalworker, Female Blacksmith

Joseph Anderson Sculpture

Joseph Anderson Sculpture

I saw Joe demonstrate in Memphis in June, 2010. He was phenomenal. He actually made two sculptures over the weekend, both of them were great. He seems to have a tremendous understanding of line and form.

Forging some hammer heads at Peat's shop

Some time between listening to Peat's advice and drinking tea, Sam and I managed to forge a couple of hammers. Sam made a rounding hammer and I made a cross pein.

Both were forged from lump hammer bought at the car boot sale (flea market) for one pound each.

Yeah, I know its crooked, but I straightened it.

We did Sam's under the fly press, as seen in the following video.

I did mine under the power hammer with very slight fullering dies.

A few days at Peat Oberon's shop in North Yorkshire

Sam managed to negotiate a few days of shop time for me in Peat Oberon's shop in North Yorkshire. When we got there on Saturday, Peat was putting on one of his beginner workshops for 8 students in his brand new teaching facility next to his shop. 

Being a former school teacher, Peat seemed to be in his element teaching the his students how to make a scroll sign bracket and rams head fire poker in their first few days of forging. With the help of his right hand man, Lee, Peat managed to build the confidence of the group by walking them through as many complex forging exercises as some people learn in a year. At the end of the weekend, everyone went home with their own hand forged projects and a new respect for an ancient craft. 

Not wanting to intrude on the class, Sam and I spent Sunday in New Castle and came back to the shop on Monday.

Peat's 8-fire bottom blast forge table for students. Inspired by a Scandinavian design, Peat had seem in his travels.

Peat's Silver Metal from The Worshipful Company of Blacksmiths. You can't get one of these out of the corn flakes box!

It seems to me that there are some people in this world that are natural mentors. These people take as much or more pride in the achievements of those they teach as in their own accomplishments. These are the people that hold nothing back when you ask them about their craft; the craft they have spent a lifetime mastering. These people are willing to give away their precious knowledge and want nothing in return but a thoughtful e-mail or a phone call from time to time. I have met several people like this in my life.  Although I do not know him very well, I think Peat Oberon is one of these people.

At the time of my visit, Peat was learning Polish with some instructional CDs in his car. He was doing this so that he knew the local language when he attended a two-week blacksmith conference in Poland this spring. He is on short list of  blacksmiths that have been invited based on their international reputation. This is seventh time Peat has learned a new language for this purpose. Wow.

After Poland it's off to Stia, Italy to judge the world forging championship for the second time in a row and then back to England to work on commissions and teach more courses. Not a bad schedule for 2011.

These are the types of things you do when you are a master blacksmith.

But for Mr. Oberon it seems you also nurture the next generation so that the craft lives on. Peat proved this by constantly giving tips and advice throughout my stay at his shop. He even went so far as to take Sam, Tom, and I on a research trip to see Sir William Turner's Almshouses; a 330 year old accommodation for the elderly and orphans filled with beautiful ironwork.

The almshouses are situated around a central chapel that contains beautiful stained glass and ornate ironwork with gold leaf accents. Many elderly North Yorkshire residents still call this place home. 

I learned a lot from Peat over the few days I spent in his shop. I can only hope that if I am lucky enough to get to his level some day, I will remember to pass on the knowledge to tomorrow's blacksmiths.

Please check out Peat Oberon's website for more information about Peat and his school.

Peat Oberon's School of Blacksmithing