The resurgence of interest in the art of blacksmithing is exciting to me. Though I do not work iron myself, I love to meet, support and encourage those who do. That is why I served on the Arizona Artist Blacksmith Association's board of directors and even served a term as President while living out of state. I am a blacksmith groupie!
Nothing excites me more than to see a young person develop a passion for blacksmithing and run with it. They are our future! Joey Van der Steeg is one of several young smiths that I follow and try to encourage. I met Joey through social media. Like many of you, he is largely self taught. You may recognize him from his great instructional blacksmith YouTube videos. Joey is just 22 years old. He told me recently that he is moving to France to work under a 70+ year old master smith with the intent to take over his business. Joey's success is insurance that this venerable craft will not die. I wish him all the luck. Pictured is Joey wearing a Forge-Apron (of course) while preparing to give a demonstration in Denmark.
