Her trespass into blacksmithing strikes me as a complex oxymoron.  Is nothing sacred?  

 

If you must, here is the link

 

http://www.marthastewart.com/998906/ornamental-blacksmith

O
M
G

I see that as a good thing. Think about the audience that watches that show regularly. Generally the type of people who prefer to go to stores and get some "as seen on the television" type things. Black smith work being brought onto her show may get people who buy cookie-cutter mass productions, interested in hand crafted forgings. I think the exposure is a great thing. Hand forged work is hardly "sacred" nowadays because of the "I want this custom made labor intensive piece...YOU WANT HOW MUCH FOR IT!!???". Also, how is she "trespassing" into blacksmithing? 

I give her credit.  At least, she knows of Phillip Simmons and his work in Charleston, SC.  She actually used the hammer well and was fairly accurate.  I would have love to have seen more of the making of the "M" and "S", but that would have taken away from the spot light on Martha. I really don't care how Martha swings a hammer.   

Greetings All,

 

I think it is great..  She is not trying to sell anything..  She makes a point to say it is an art.  I give her credit she gave it a wack just to see how hard it was..  Hey at least we may get more ladies in our shop to give it a try..  Cudos Martha..

 

Forge on and make beautiful things

Jim

I thought it was great. Just wish he had made her wear safety glasses.

I liked this too. As much as I despise Martha the video was fine and put a spotlight on a famous smith.  

Tresspass? Sacred? I didn't know entry to the craft  was restricted to any one group or demographic. Its certainly not evident in the membership here. I bet there is a member from every walk of life here. "Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief". "Butcher, baker, candlestick maker". Anyone that can swing a hammer... :)

In 2013, I feel fortunate to have been demonstrator for a hands-on blacksmithing workshop for the Philip Simmons Artist-Blacksmith Guild in Westminster, South Carolina. I had never met Simmons, so I was happy to be able to see him and his shop in the Martha Stewart video. The Guild was formed while Simmons was yet living, and he was invited to some meetings before his passing. He was tickled to have the Guild carry his name.

One of the big discussions at the ABANA business meeting tonight was how to let the world know that blacksmithing (not horse-shoeing) and ABANA even exist. As late as today, members of the local community were turning into the fairgrounds, drawn off the highway by the smell of coal smoke and sight of the blazing forges. We were never mentioned on local TV, radio, or newspaper. 

 

Want to do something good for your local group? Rent a billboard, take out an ad in a local paper, get somebody half as famous as Martha Stewart to put in a plug for us all on national TV.

They say prison toughens a woman..... :D Hey, at least she's trying! (and I learned all about the advantages of baking my salmon in parchment!)

She said he was working the bellows, but it looked like he was manning a hand crank. (the bellows were above though...)

Seems like a nice guy, I'd like to share some conversation sweet tea with him!

I've heard the hand crank blower called a "rotary bellows" before 

The video wouldn't play for me, maybe because I didn't subscribe or maybe it's just the coriolis effect this far north. I was able to see stills but not the moving picture thingy.

 

I'm no fan of Martha but if she's promoting the craft I'll add it to positive side if her score card. I think it's a move in the right direction, certainly better than the times she's let her mouth shoot her in the foot.

 

Heck, I count it a good day if I don't let my big mouth get me in trouble; I only came close today! <grin>

 

Frosty The Lucky.

Good to see Philip getting some air time.  I thought it was hilarious that he asked her what her name was!

 

The neat thing about Philip's work is that it wasn't extremely complicated.  If you look at the individual pieces, you occasionally run into a sharp 90º bend but most of his work was curves and scrolls set into a body that was just straight bars.  It's very inspirational to know that you don't have to do complicated works (and have all that skill and tooling) to have your work appreciated.

Seems great exposure to me.

I don't see any other videos, is this a series, or just the one? 

From Franks post it sounds like this man has passed away, is this an old clip?

Very nice - Dont care much about MS, but love to see old traditional blacksmiths and their shops

Mr. Simmons died on June 22, 2009, Charleston, SC

 

he is the namesake of our guild.

 

thanks for sharing the video, that was neat to see him!

I sense that I have irritated some. My point was to show the incongruity of a four time convicted felon with a net worth of 685 million dollars hanging out in a blacksmith shop. While only my opinion, I suspect that she was there not so much from an interest in blacksmithing but to add to that net worth.   I find this trespass ( an improper act) to be funny, the irony of which is inescapable. :lol:      

Mr. Simmons was a true gentleman and a friend.  I probably met him for the first time around 1994.  I helped him make a gate that was raffled off in a silent auction for charity.  Here's a picture of us with the gate, and another picture of Mr. Simmons and my two boys.

 

 

JimsShip, Phillip was 97 years old when he died. 

Born: June 9, 1912, Daniel Island, SC

• Died: June 22, 2009, Charleston, SC