The history of blacksmithing runs as far back as the Iron Age. From remotest times ores and metals have been venerated as divine substances brought to perfection by the sacred work of metallurgy. Blacksmiths, “masters of fire,” were held by their communities to be initiates in a profound mystery, transforming the gifts of an earth-mother into both sacred and profane objects. In time the art diversified into specialties: locksmith, gunsmith, armorer, and the general maker of iron objects of all sorts, the “smithy.”
Just as contemporary urban life has largely lost sight of the sources of the food supply, the pigs, sheep, cattle, grains and so on, so too has it lost sight of a local and highly visible source of tools and household implements. The blacksmith was the essential manufacturer in village life until well into the nineteenth century. With the coming of the Industrial Age and large scale mass production of manufactured goods the blacksmith’s position was relegated to fine arts craftsman whose work tended to grace public works and the private estates of the wealthy.
It is only is relatively recent times, say the last thirty or forty years, that blacksmithing has come into its own as a popular and flourishing skill. Blacksmiths continue to fashion traditional items such as candlesticks and door hinges but they also now explore significant new aesthetic terrain in the expression of their personal visions. From exquisitely wrought pieces of jewelry to towering structures in iron, the productions of this art have created a Renaissance in metalwork.
Western North Carolina has an especially rich blacksmithing history with such figures as Daniel Boone VI, whose work was instrumental in the remaking of Colonial Williamsburg. Currently blacksmithing history is being created through the work of Bea Hensley, designated one of North Carolina’s living treasures.” Hensley has worked as a blacksmith for over 60 years in Mitchell and Yancey Counties and in 1993 was awarded the North Carolina Fold Heritage Aware. His reception of the National Heritage Award from the National Endowment of the Arts in 1995 signals just how valued this traditional skill has become to our cultural history. Bill Brown, Paige Davis and Elizabeth Brim are also included along with the 25 or so blacksmiths in the exhibit.
The Third Annual Exhibit of Regional Blacksmiths continues now through April 26. The TRAC Center Gallery at 269 Oak Avenue in Spruce Pine is open regularly Tuesdays through Saturdays From 10 am to 5 pm.
We invite the public to a reception for the exhibit that takes place on Friday, April 25 and 7 to 9 pm at the TRAC Center Gallery. On Saturday, April 26 the Third Annual “Fire on the Mountain” takes place in downtown Spruce Pine, NC from 10 am to 4 pm. The festival celebrates the craft of blacksmithing in ways such as demonstrations, hands-on activities for the public, and booths where blacksmiths will be selling and displaying their work. The exhibit is sponsored by the Toe River Arts Council, with support from a Grassroots Arts Grant through the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency. The Festival is sponsored by the Spruce Pine Main Street and the Advisory Sponsor is Penland School of Crafts. For more information on the exhibit contact the Tow River Arts Council at 28-765-0520 or trac@toeriverarts.org.
