| Home
Blacksmith Shop at Henry
Ford Village THIS IS MY FIRST ACRYLIC. The original is unsigned and artist unknown. I borrowed it from the Metro-Dade public library art files. It looks as if it might have been in something like a National Geographic magazine at one time… The Henry Ford Museum is world-famous Museum and associated old time village reconstruction at Detroit. (As I recall not too far from the airport, as I visited it once or twice while there on business layovers). I do not recall the smithy specifically as this was before my own interest in smithing had developed. I like this composition (I suppose one could argue that the presence of the kids makes it a bit kitschy, but I don't think so). It has nice feel. I do not capture quite the same "broken" brush stroke as the original artist, who may moreover have been working in oils. The smith is forging horseshoes - the traditional subject matter of smiths (for all non-smiths)! I used to keep horseshoe stock over my slack tub rim just as shown here: for making other things - I was not a farrier! The smith is operating the lever arm on a "Great Bellows" apparently… we do not really see it behind him in the gloom of the shop. In the "down" position as shown here, the top side of the bellows would be "up" but none of this is shown. I added a connecting rod here to link the subject up a bit…the shop door is a lefthand opening door - which is okay. The little girl with her old time bow and all is not really dressed for a visit to a smithy and we assume she and her brother fulfill the role of transient "hangers-on" which history tells us was the convention around smithies and usually shown in depictions of same… Today they would be banned by OSHA and insurance laws which says something about lackluster modern ways… George Rhine, who gave me my first job out of college, and influenced me in many ways as those who know me know, was a sometime blacksmith and collector of old tools back in CT. When he died, much of his immense collection - which was already famous - went to the Ford Museum. Maybe someday I will get to see it again. BWP | Home |
