Sculpture tests blacksmiths’ mettle

AUSTIN — The historical Manitoba Agricultural Museum in Austin is the perfect location and backdrop for a four-day blacksmithing conference that wraps up Sunday.

More than 100 people signed up to learn new techniques from national and international experts who hammered heated steel on anvils, and turned straight rods into both intricate and immense works of art.

The event is called CanIRON XIV and is held every two years. It has never been hosted on Manitoba soil until now, said metal sculptor Chris Spilak, one of the organizers from the Manitoba Blacksmith Guild.

“There is something for everyone here,” Spilak said Friday morning as he worked on a metal maple leaf.

“Regardless of your interest in metalworking, some facet of it is on display at CanIRON, and you can participate or observe world-class masters from all across North America,” he said.

“It’s truly a special occasion that they’ve come this far to demonstrate for us in our own backyard.”

The sound of hammers on steel resonated through the grounds that were dotted with coal-fired forges set up for people to work on their own projects.

Under one of the outdoor buildings a collaborative sculpture was taking shape, designed by British Columbia’s Jake James, one of the featured blacksmiths.

“I do a lot of architectural iron work in my day to day, earning a living,” James said.

“I’m absolutely terrible as a boss, but in these situations, I seem to have found my superpower in managing the chaos,” he said as he looked around.

Following James’ instructions, conference participants forged and hammered pieces that will eventually be a fertility goddess rising up and out of the fields of prairie wheat.

“My sculptural work is based a lot around mythology and also tying ancient mythology into a modern, social narrative,” James said.

Once the 2.5-metre-high sculpture is complete, it will be donated to the agricultural museum.

Nova Scotia’s Sarah Wechsler was excited to contribute to the piece. As a “closet artist,” she registered for the conference to learn new techniques.

“I want to get more into this,” Wechsler said.

“And I’ve already learned so much. I don’t have a power hammer at home and someone said this is how you do it. So, it’s getting that experience, the camaraderie, and their willingness to share.”

Other renowned blacksmiths who were brought in to share their techniques came from Quebec, Montana, California and Pennsylvania.

Pat Quinn is a sculptor from Johnstown, Pa. He runs the Center for Metal Arts school that is restoring an industrial blacksmith shop that was built in 1862.

Using his teaching and blacksmithing skills, Quinn took his audience through the forging process — getting the steel malleable.

“It’s changing the cross-section of a (steel) bar, which is the thickness and the width — with heat and pressure. And there are lots of different ways you can do that,” Quinn said.

“You can do that with a hammer, with a press, with tools. You can do it by hand. You can do it with power. You can do it manually. But that the crux of foraging is using heat and pressure to change the cross section of the material.”

Quinn said the sculpture that he is creating during the conference is an homage to “beautiful Manitoba” and will be auctioned off on the last day.

Among the crowd was Kevin Fettig from Fargo, N.D. He’s retired from a career selling steel in a territory that stretched from his home city to Brandon and Winnipeg. He took what he sold and turned it into a hobby.

“When you come to something like this,” Fettig said, “it’s less about what they make, but more about how they make it. So you’re just learning technique and other people’s habits.

“Instead of going directly to a 2,300-degree (Fahrenheit) forge, some smiths will start with modelling clay. Hot steel is malleable and will move like clay. So you can learn the technique on your workbench rather than on the anvil.”

That’s exactly what metal sculptor Leah Aripotch said she does with her pieces.

“I love modelling in clay, but that’s not the end of it. I have to bring it to steel. I love manipulating hot metal,” she said.

The Oakland, Calif., native said she works on smaller pieces, pointing out a metal orchid that is about 31 centimetres high.

“They call me the dentist,” Aripotch said as she laughed, “because I use a lot of really tiny air tools, which are very similar to dentistry.”

“I come from a fabrication background — about 13 years. So blacksmithing is a newer process for me. I’ve only been doing it for about six years.”

The conference will also feature a presentation from a Quebec bladesmith about forging blades from stainless steel, blade grinding and a Japanese method of preserving wood by charring knife handles.

James, who travelled from Vancouver Island to make his presentation and create the lasting sculpture, said it was well worth the journey.

“Everywhere you look, there’s something happening, it’s all humming,” said James.

“For the organizers to pull this off and have this many people come out, it’s great.”

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