INSTRUCTORS

Jeffrey Funk

Jeffrey Funk, director of the New Agrarian School, has been Blacksmithing in Bigfork, Montana for the past four decades. With work ranging from plowshares to public sculpture, his recent emphasis has been a wide variety of architectural metalwork and tools of all types. A regular demonstrator at conferences around the country, as well as instructor at numerous craft schools for many years, Jeffrey is directing his primary attention to sharing this extraordinary craft of blacksmithing. Expect a broad foundation in traditional forging technique, along with innovative tooling and problem solving from Jeffrey’s classes.

Jeffreyfunkmetalworker.com
jfunk@newagrarianschool.org

Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart has practiced blacksmithing for over thirty years, first in Kent, England, then Kenya (east Africa), and for the past two decades in Northwest Montana. Tony’s Iron Thistle Forge produces a wide variety of architectural metalwork using a broad pallet of traditional blacksmithing techniques. He brings to his teaching a great deal of practical experience, humor, and a healthy dose of whimsy. Unfortunately, not well known beyond this region, students should expect an instructor with a rare depth of insight into his medium, and an unusually authentic craft experience.

Ironthistleforge.com

Anna Koplik

Anna Koplik received her BFA in Jewelry from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY where she discovered her love for metalwork and forging. After graduating she shifted her focus to blacksmithing and began traveling, working at crafts schools and as a journeyman architectural smith, teaching blacksmithing workshops, and going on adventures whenever possible. Her personal work focuses mainly on tool and utensil making, and combining functionality with a refined, delicate aesthetic. Anna has worked at a variety of shops, including Atlas Forge, Caleb Kullman Studio, and Spirit Ironworks, as well as taught at various craft schools such as Penland School of Crafts, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and John C. Campbell Folk School.

Mark Aspery

Pete Braspenninx

Pete Braspenninx, owner of Phyre Forge, is a graduate of the University of Michigan school of art and design (2004). He is an artist, blacksmith, and educator.  His work has been shown, collected, and published nationally and internationally.  His work focuses primarily on building shape and line through visual connections and joinery using traditional skills to make modern forms.

Jordan LaMothe

Growing up on a farm in rural New York State taught Jordan LaMothe the importance of a good knife, both in the field and in the kitchen. He maintains that attention to functional design in all his work, from kitchen and field knives to artistic display pieces. LaMothe has been a member of the American Bladesmith Society since 2013 and earned his Master Smith ranking in 2021. In 2022, he spent nine months in Rajasthan, India on a Fulbright grant, studying Indian swords and daggers and learning the koftgari wire overlay technique traditionally used to embellish them. In 2018, Jordan was a champion on History Channel’s bladesmith competition, Forged In Fire, season 4, episode 7. In addition to being a full-time knife-maker, he regularly teaches knife-making workshops at several schools around the country in an effort to share his passion and knowledge of the craft with the next generation of knife-makers.

www.jordanlamothe.com

Past Instructors

Eric Dennis

“Eric is a full-time blacksmith from Vermont currently running a shop in Western Massachusetts making work ranging from architectural railings, to tools, sculpture, housewares, to all the weird stuff in between. A class in 2017 introduced him to the ancient process of bloomery smelting and Eric found what felt like home within the vast world of ironwork. This passion has taken him around the country and on multiple trips to an iron smelting festival in Ireland where he has learned from some of the most knowledgeable iron smelters in the world. In life, ironwork, and bloomery smelting, Eric strives to fuse calculation with intuition while using honesty as a means towards growth, learning, and self-expression

Nick Tomlin operates the Providence Hammer in Rhode Island, specializing in historical and restoration ironwork. Since 2016 he has been exploring iron smelting in both the US and Colombia. His interest in smelting includes the bloomery process, which will be the focus of this workshop, but also extends broadly into other realms of fiery transformation. Nick has a deep interest in processes that involve the development of human skills over-reliance on technology. Bloomery smelting involves a powerful combination of common sense and intuition, an ancient and eternal chemical process that will speak directly to those who engage with it.

“Salem is a full-time Washington State based bladesmith and teacher, specializing in culinary knives, daggers, and various integral forged blades. His main areas of interest are in the historical work of Europe and Asia, in vivid and interesting materials, and in exploring new boundaries in all styles of pattern welding. He has been making knives since 2004 and plans to continue until he can’t pick up a hammer.

Shawn is a full-time blacksmith who has operated her own metalworking shop in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 25 years. She specializes in hand-forged architectural ironwork that fuses contemporary design with traditional old world craft. In addition to architectural work, she is also known for her kitchen utensils, most notably making egg spoons in collaboration with bay area chef Alice Waters.

Lovell graduated with high distinction from the California College of Arts and Crafts with a BFA in sculpture, and holds a BFA in design from Arizona State University. She furthered her training by traveling to the Czech Republic and Austria to apprentice under Alfred Haberman, and has also studied the techniques of Uri Hoffi with Tsur Sadan of Israel.

Shawn has taught at Penland School of Crafts, demonstrated for the California Blacksmiths Association, and competed in the international blacksmithing competition at Helfstyn Castle in the Czech Republic. Her work has been featured worldwide in various publications, such as American Craft Magazine as the cover story (“Drawn to Fire,” Feb/March 2013). And the New York Times (“What’s cooking in that egg spoon” Mar 26, 2018). Other publications include the San Francisco Chronicle, Ironwork Today, Architectural Ironwork, as well as numerous blogs including Elle Decor, Dwell, This Next, and Style Hive.

In my work, concept and craft are coequals. The very physical and technically demanding process of forging and forming shapes in glowing steel is my passion. Using these processes, I address broader issues of “body” and “landscape” through the lens of social and environmental justice. I express these ideas by making sculpture, furniture, and architectural elements. The forms I create are physical representations of restrictive and oppressive social systems and the battle against them. In my work, symbolic references to systemic expectations and oppressive uses of the human body and landscape dominate the linear and framing elements while the queer, powerful, and subversive parts of life, body, and politics are referenced by the masses that push out of that framework.

Read more.

Redmetal.net

Joy Fire has been exploring blacksmithing and other aspects of metalworking since 2010 when she received her BA from Westmont College. She currently practices her passion for forged metals in a studio she shares with her partner and another smith in Santa Ana, California. Joy’s interest in the sculptural possibilities of metals led her to pursue an MFA at Claremont Graduate University which she will complete in early 2022. She has taught welding, blacksmithing, and bronze casting at Orange Coast College since 2017. Joy considers teaching to be an integral part of being an artist, and also as an essential way to contribute positively to other people’s lives.

“I try to be aware of the many privileges I have in order to use them for the greatest benefit to the most people. One of the ways I try to do this is through my work with the organization Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths. Our mission is to facilitate a positive blacksmithing community where all are equally valued and to promote visibility and provide opportunities for those who have historically been marginalized in blacksmithing.”

You can see Joy’s work at joyfireblacksmith.com

Peter Haarklou has been blacksmithing since early 2015, at first working with the well-known smith Scott Lankton and in conjunction with the Webster Township Historical Society in Ann Arbor Michigan. He has been living and working in Montana since 2018 where he was instrumental in helping to establish the New Agrarian School and has continued to deepen his experience in the craft. Serving as assistant in classes led by the school’s director, Jeffrey Funk, Peter has proven both his passion and patience in guiding students to succeed in blacksmithing.”

James is the founder of Alchemy Metalworks and lives in Oakland, California. James was born in 1957 and grew up in Washington State and California. After receiving an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley he moved to Germany to pursue his true ambition as a craftsman.

In the scenic village of Diessen in Upper Bavaria, James served a traditional three-year apprenticeship under a master blacksmith. This study in artistic metalworking rested on the centuries-old skills of hand forging and many other decorative techniques. James’ experience ranged from the restoration of antique decorative ironwork to contemporary metal design. Upon completion of his apprenticeship in 1985 he graduated as a distinguished journeyman in the guild of blacksmiths. James then continued his study of artistic metalsmithing in Europe for three more years, working in Germany, northern Italy and England, and spent a year with a master woodworker doing historical building restoration.

In 1988 James returned to the U.S.A. with a large collection of traditional German tools, antique ironwork, and historical reference material with which to pursue his craft. He currently lives and works in Oakland, and devotes time to both artistic blacksmithing and historical education. Check out Instagram to see more of what James is up to.

Andy Dohner works out his iron studio in southern Oregon, focusing on functional and sculptural objects. His background in steel manufacturing helps to inform his high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail. Andy employs both modern and traditional design sensibilities to the work he does in both steel and bronze, all with a strong emphasis on forging process. In addition to his work as a studio artist, Andy has exhibited and taught widely across the country.

andrewdohner.com

Lee Sauder began blacksmithing at the tender age of 12, and after a couple of years of college, cultivated his passion by working under well-established blacksmiths including OK Barnes in Maine, Chris Axelson in California, and Vaclav Jaros in (then) Czechoslovakia. Upon return to Virginia in 1982 he operated Wood Creek Forge (formerly run by his first master, Larry Mann). Since 2009 he has lived and worked on House Mountain, near Lexington, Virginia, operating Germinal Ironworks, forging sculpture, furniture, and architectural metalwork. Lee has been exploring bloomery smelting over the course of more than twenty years and hundreds of smelts, transforming bloomery iron into contemporary sculpture.

Northern California based artist Monica Coyne forges steel into surprising forms, using the strength of the material to produce sculptural and architectural works that look and feel light and soft. Her work with iron joinery is influenced by traditional woodworking techniques, but exploits the unique qualities of iron to create movement in the transitions and connections. Experimenting with balance and asymmetry she has developed techniques in forging figurative sculpture that seem to defy gravity. Monica’s commission work can be seen in numerous galleries, public spaces, and private settings. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, including a solo show at The Metal Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, and publications including Elementum Journal (UK), Fine Homebuilding (USA), HEPHAISTOS (Germany), the Anvil’s Ring (USA), and NOMMA (USA). She has demonstrated and taught workshops widely in America, and was awarded the Victor Thomas Jacoby Award for excellence in art in 2018.

You can see Joy’s work at www.monicacoyneartistblacksmith.com