Page 74 - Homes amp Gardens UK February 2021

LIFESTYLE
Tell us a little about
Q your background.
I am originally from Poland and I
used to earn a decent wage as a
manager in retail, yet over time
this career left me feeling wholly
unfulfilled. Knowing that I wanted
to do something using my hands
and create something that would
last, I quit my job and enrolled on a
blacksmithing course at Hereford
College of Arts. Since I completed
the course, I have focused my career
on forging superb kitchen knives
and other useful tools.
Where do find inspiration?
Q I look back in history to
more traditional methods. I love the
process of forging and how it can
transform a lump of steel into a
beautiful and useful object, I can
lose hours doing it while I try to
figure out how to make a pattern
or forge a random piece of scrap
metal into something new.
Who has inspired you?
Q I owe a lot to the teachers that
introduced me to blacksmithing –
Delyth Done, Ambrose Burne and
Adrian Legge all motivated me to
push boundaries. In addition, I also
love the work of Mick Maxen
and Mareko Maumasi and wish to
FEATURE JO BAILEY PHOTOGRAPHS SAM WALTON
reach their level of mastery and
pattern-making skills.
Can you tell us about
Q your technique?
I specialise in pattern welding, most
commonly known as Damascus steel.
To explain in more detail, I layer
different alloys of steel to create
“I LOVE THE PROCESS OF FORGING AND
HOW IT CAN TRANSFORM A LUMP OF STEEL
INTO A BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL OBJECT”
unique patterns that I then use to said that, we are always on the
forge my knife designs. Many of the lookout for equipment – new or old.
tools that I use in the workshop have
a long history, such as the coke forges
from the 18th century and the What’s been your most
Pilkington power hammer, which is Q exciting project so far?
almost 100 years old. A number of For Shell Tools I created a set of farm
our other hand tools were acquired tools and presented them for the
from other workshops that were Transition exhibition at Ypres 2016
closing down. If I keep using and (a major international touring
maintaining the tools they should last exhibition for forged metal design).
for another century or two! The aim of the exhibition was to
create work in memory of the First
World War. Using original shells
How has your work evolved from weapons used in the war, I
Q over time? created new tools with the aim to
Each time I make a knife I notice show the cyclical process of ‘tools of
things that I could do differently, destruction’ into ‘tools of creation’.
although I think that’s quite common Also, when researching, I discovered
for many craftspeople. Looking back a story about some church bells that
through my work over the years, were confiscated by the army and
I can clearly see an ever-evolving then smelted into weapons. I later
style; sometimes I change the handle, found out that this was a common
the material, the blade shape or even practice in order to gain any available
the heat treatment process. It’s all a steel for use in weapon production.
learning process and I think after
three years as a full-time blacksmith
I have now begun to create the What’s in the pipeline for
knives that I imagined when I set Q you this year?
out on this journey. I was recently awarded a grant from
QEST and planned to go to Japan in
the summer to study knife-making
Tell us a bit about your and learn about smelting tatara
Q workshop. steel. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19,
I’m sharing my workspace with my I have not been able to begin the
friends from Kingdom Forge in course but I do hope to attend soon.
Suffolk, and over the years we have Also, I really want to make a knife
managed to gather all the equipment from scratch, so not only forge it
we need, from ancient tools to from steel but actually smelt the
modern welders and grinders. Having steel that I will use. &
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