There’s little beauty in the world like that of a talented blacksmith working away over his hot forge, and Prairie PastTimes is lucky to have our very own man of talent–Dave Edwards, owner and operator of Persimmon Forge! Dave has been working in black iron for a long time, and his art shows his long-forged (pardon the pun!) talent.
He says he chose to work in iron because: “A famous artist blacksmith once said that iron has great strength and yet also has the capacity to appear light, graceful and delicate. “It has this capacity — but no desire. It will do nothing by itself except resist you. All the desire, and all the knowledge of how to impart this desire to the iron, must come from the smith.’’ It is a stubborn material. The smith learns to use fire and force to encourage the metal to move. At a high heat steel has a plasticity similar to glass and clay but still requires a lot more force to shape.”
He takes pride in what he does and doesn’t stress about getting the “perfect” look. Dave is someone who truly understands that good art is created, not perfected.
Today, his beautiful wife, Betty, is working in the store! She can answer all your questions and show you some of the articles and interviews we have on-hand that go a little more in-depth on Dave’s work. Stop in today from 11-5!
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