Looking for a mentor

 After taking several classes and attending a summer of Threseree's , some came up to me and said it was time for me to find a mentor who understood my forging desires. What kind of blacksmith was I going to be and what direction I would go was beginning to unfold before me. In my heart, I loved to teach others so I wanted someone to teach me many facet of traditional blacksmithing from the ground up. I wanted to know hammer control, metal fabrication, artistic expression and bread/ butter manufacturing. What I would kind was that as I hammered out an idea, the metal began to speak to me.  Kind of like when a sculpting chisels out a form out of marble. But I am getting ahead of myself.

  Many folks would teach me the rudimentary practice of blacksmithing but only one many would understand just where I wanted to go and how to get me there. He was a blacksmith for 34 years, built several shops along the way, and helped dozens of individuals just like me to get started. He was somewhat demanding but tolerated my imperfections in order to get me started. Not only would we get together bi-monthly for "hammer-in" sessions, but encouraged me to keep a journal, and swapped photos via the phone of projects I needed to be working up towards. He would be the greatest resources for me to start my own forge.