Last winter I exhibited Vestments of the Magus, a suit of steel armor I fabricated during my sophomore year. Nick Ireys attended the opening and was impressed with my piece. He was interested in meeting up to show me around his workshop, which I very happily agreed to! Through my time there we eventually got around to talking about summer plans and internships, at which time Nick offered me this opportunity to work as his summer intern!
Nick Ireys is a blacksmith and metalworking artist that specializes in public art, restoration and fabricating high end architectural metalwork. His fine art work blends forged metal with blown glasswork, and primarily takes on a wide variety of metalworking projects through his personal studio label, NI Metal Design. He also started up his own blacksmithing school, Baltimore Hot Metal, where he teaches basic blacksmithing workshops in 3 hour long sessions.
I worked primarily as a workshop assistant for Nick, helping him with fabrication tasks that change by the day. In my time there I assisted in the production of two main projects, one being the refinishing of a forged banister that needed a recoat, and the other being the fabrication of a ten foot tall gate. I also helped with a number of smaller projects, such as grinding and handling hammers, making a tool stand for a commemorative trophy, as well as assisting with cleanup of the shop.
My most important takeaway from the experience would definitely be learning to be more confident and comfortable with failure. I made a lot of mistakes during this internship while forging and definitely got a lot more used to being okay with the idea of failing and trying again instead of being too afraid to swing the hammer hard and taking twice as long as a result.
I have gotten comfortable with basic blacksmithing techniques and now have the skill to forge a variety of basic forms, as well as how to map out how I would approach forging new shapes. I also now have the skill to make more intricate tools with certain specifications. I am also comfortable with operating a handful of shop tools. I’ve particularly learnt a lot on what I find fulfilling creatively and emotionally in a job, which has definitely helped clarify what I want to work towards in the future.
