Blacksmithing at John C. Campbell Folk School

We spent the last two weeks at John C. Campbell folk school.  

What an amazing two weeks it was. 

This is the newest part of the shop built 4 years ago. 

Jerry Darnell of Mill Creek Forge taught an 18th century pipe smoking accessories class the first week that we were there. 

Here are the items that my blacksmith made. 

A good shot of him hard at work. 

Bob Alexander, a fellow Missouri blacksmith, works at one of the 14 forges in this beautiful building. 

The shop was a timber frame project made on site. I love the anvils carved into the beams. 

The Paul Garrett tool room. If it's not there, you probably don't need it. 

 This shot shows several smiths hard at work. 

Week number 2 was taught by Bob Alexander, with my blacksmith being the assistant instructor. It had 6 women and 6 men, some of whom had never even started a fire before.  The class was titled "Flowers in Metal".  Everyone started by making tulips. From there it was pretty open, from day lilies, cattails, daffodils, irises, even a trillium!

Show and tell at the end of the week showcased their work. The instuctors worked extra hard with such a big class, but I bet they are ready to go back in a heart beat.

BAM conference 2013

The first week of May, the Blacksmiths Association of Missouri held their annual conference in Sedalia, Missouri. 

Last year it was record heat.  In the 80's and we couldn't ice the bottled water down fast enough. 

This year, it was a different story. The same weekend, just one year later.  Three inches of snow fell in a 12 hour period. This time it was hard to keep the coffee pots and hot chocolate going!  

Gerald Boggs demonstrates.

Ray and Katie Carpenter selling their wares. 

Karen and I look like frozen snow birds while selling at the boutique. (I am wearing sunglasses only because my regular glasses broke and the sunglasses helped to hold my lenses in place)  I know I look dorkie.

Here a beginners class is working. 

Steve Culver, master bladesmith demos.

Randy McDaniel also demonstrates. 

Here he shows off a dragon head.

His skull face!

Here are some of his awesome belt buckles. 

This handmade trunk by Pat McCarty is always one of the biggest ticket items in the auction.

I love this picture of these blacksmiths deep in conversation.

This little guy is a blacksmith of the future. He was encouraged by several to keep on bidding. In the end, he end up with several pairs of tongs.