[TheForge] Re: Artist-Blacksmith

[Mike Spencer]

Rudy> What is an artist-blacksmith? ....couldn't find a definition.

I hate using definitions to answer questions like that.  It's as bad
as asking, "What is 'art'?"  You take a bunch -- 10, 100 or 1000 -- of
things, likely candidates that *might* be artist-blacksmiths and sort
them into two three heaps: (1) IS-artist-blacksmith, (2)
ISNOT-artist-blacksmith and (3) CAN'T-DECIDE.

If heap (3) is biggest, start over or give up.  Otherwise, comparing
heaps (1) and (2) will give you an answer or at least insight.

For a formally constructed and therefore arbitrary definition, refer
to the US Dept. of Labor, which has a classification system of all
occupations where you find:

 E599  Ornamental iron erector                    15-17
 E599  Ornamental ironworker                      15-17
 F717  Ornamental metal worker                    20-39
 E599  Ornamental metal worker                    Exc. 20-39
 A185  Ornamental metalwork designer              All Industries

     [See: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/como.htm]

 E547  Blacksmith                                 763,764,7692,7699

    [See: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comBi-Bl.htm]

 A188  Artist                                     899

   [See: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/coma.htm]

 F713  Forge hand                33-37(exc.348),40,763,764,7692,7699
 F724  Forge heater              331,332,pt333,334,pt335,pt336,339,
 F713  Forge operator            33-37(exc.348),40,763,764,7692,7699
 F713  Forge tender              33-37(exc.348),40,763,764,7692,7699
 F713  Forgeman                  33-37(exc.348),40,763,764,7692,7699
 F713  Forger                    33-37(exc.348),40,763,764,7692,7699
 F713  Forgesmith                                 All Industries
 F713  Forging roll operator                      All Industries
 F713  Forging-machine hand      33-37(exc.348),40,763,764,7692,7699
 F713  Forging-machine operator  33-37(exc.348),40,763,764,7692,7699
 F713  Forging-press operator    33-37(exc.348),40,763,764,7692,7699

     [See: http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/ocsm/comfl-fu.htm]

So far as this classification system goes, "Ornamental metalwork
designer" is what category into which most of us would fit because we
do the designs, drawing, client consulting, pricing etc. as well as
the actual forging, assembly and erection. 

Many years ago, when ABANA was trying to promote the image of the
artist blacksmith as a highly skilled professional, I sent some of the
details of the DoL job classification of "blacksmith" and "ornamental
metalwork designer" off to the then-president of ABANA with the
suggestion , NOT that we drop the romantic appellation of
"artist-blacksmith" but that we adopt the "ornamental metalwork
designer" terminology in talking to architects, engineers and
especially federal granting agencies and other bureaucrats.  I guess
he was one of those self-important people who read every 10th or 20th
word in their mail and then make an Executive Decision because his
response was a spectacular non-sequitur.

What to call ourselves to distinguish our work from farriers and
industrial forge machine operators has been a matter of debate from
the earliest days of ABANA.  Historically, blacksmiths in colonial
North America have been jacks of all iron-related trades, including
ornamental work as well as horse- and ox-shoing, with just a few guys
such as Samuel Yellin in the US or Paul Beau in Canada who undertook
highly creative ornamental projects. So we never had our own
distinctive appellation.

In Europe, where really fancy work was a full-time occupation from
before the 17th c., there are numerous words.  In German,

 Schmied          General blacksmith
 Hufschmied       Farrier, (lit. hoof-smith)
 Kunstschmied     Artist blacksmith
 Zirkelschmied    Instrument maker (lit. compass-smith)
 Grobschmied      Blacksmith (lit. coarse- or rough-smith)
 Nagelschmied     Nailer (lit. nail-smith)
 Messerschmied    Cutler (lit. knife-smith)
 Schlosser        Locksmith

And that's just off the top of my head.  There is a similar vocabulary
in French: forgeron, cloutier, serrurier (sp?) and so on.

Quite a few of the US and Canadian artist-blacksmith started in the
60s as refugees from the military-industrial, corporate and/or
academic world and came to smithing with backgrounds in all sorts of
non-smithing fields: I can off hand think of guys who came from
biochemistry, civil engineering, Germanic studies, psychology.  The
result is lots of guys who can do diesel mechanics, industrial
welding, horse farming, apiculture, crab fishing, timber framing,
plumbing or whatever but who can also make a decent hand-forged rose.

This is in conflict with the stiff old European notion, that one
apprentices at 14 and does only his specialty for 50 years.  When word
got out that ABANA members were (a) mostly self-taught, (b) didn't
start until they were in their 20s or even 30s and (c) were calling
themselves artist-blacksmiths, there were condescending sneers from a
few of the more important German masters.  It wasn't long before those
few had either to eat their sneers or go off and sulk. :-)

BobF> The difference between a blacksmith and an artist-blacksmith is
BobF> zoning.

Ah!  I knew I was making it more complicated than I needed to. :-)

Frosty> Price?

Ah! Even less complicated.


FWIW,
- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^