Badger Village Blacksmithing

Calla Lily Garden Gate

Production Diary-Oct/Nov, 2003

Background information.

Steve Hackbarth began his love for forging metals twenty-five years ago when, at the age of 15, he first picked up a hammer to strike hot iron in an attempt to shape it. He still has the first piece that he made, an iron cobra that lives in his office and watches over him any time he is plucking away at the computer, reminding him that there is work to be done in the forge! Through the years he has produced a wide variety of artistic forgework. From the simple designs in his retail product line to the various custom projects that he has had the pleasure to create, he has never ceased learning something new regarding his craft.

And, it turns out, that many of the lessons learned in relation to the art of blacksmithing have a direct application to the task of everyday living. The first and foremost being that if you are not very careful about what you are doing, it is easy to get burned! "Blacksmithing is an endeavor that has the potential to teach one to learn to fail and then overcome those failures with ever greater successes. Patience, determination, and dedication are not only three basic requirements for being an artist/blacksmith, they become three lifelong classrooms in which the student is constantly challenged to grow and learn."

This special auction evolved over the course of the three months preceding the Tenth Annual Fall Art Tour. An event that Steve has been involved with since its inception. For this years Tour, Steve wanted to do something different for his demonstration piece. Many times he has been asked if he has ever made a specific item. This gate is an example of how the artist/blacksmith can work with a conceptual design and bring it to life through the skills he has learned in his trade. This is the first garden gate that Steve has ever produced. Whether it is a custom chandelier, table base, wine cabinet door , or a myriad of other items, the skills that he has aquired can be used to bring a customers vision to reality. The decision to auction this piece for the IBCRF was first inspired by fellow Tour artist Char TerBeest Kudla who is a cancer survivor. Both Steve and his wife Mary's mothers and grandmothers also had breast cancer. Steve wanted the donation to go to a research organization that was based in his area. After doing a little bit of searching on line, he settled on the IBCRF for the donation.