EVERYTHING I MAKE IS CUSTOM; I DON’T HAVE A PRODUCT LINE
Forging is a way of working metal by utilizing the plasticity of redhot steel. By using a hammer and anvil—or an antique 200 lb. trip hammer—Dulfer and his team are able to sculpt hard metal into something ornate and beautiful. He demonstrates how, for example, he makes his handles from scratch. What starts as a four-inch stickstraight billet of steel becomes molded and curved. “It’s like a lump of clay that can be formed into any shape,” Dulfer describes. Dulfer started studying blacksmithing when he turned 30. “I’d had an interest ever since I was a kid, but I didn’t know what it was,” he explains. “I found a family home movie where I had made a welding set out of my Tinkertoys when I was five years old.” After spending time at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, Dulfer came to Santa Fe and became an apprentice under a local blacksmith. He’s been doing the trade full-time professionally for 19 years, and has had his own business for 15 years.
Bringing METAL to Life
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teve Dulfer of Dulfermetal sees himself as a keeper of ancient knowledge. His ability to turn a piece of metal into a thing of beauty is an increasingly rare gift in this age of factory manufacturing. He derives satisfaction from the surprise and delight his clients express when they see his artisan-made finished products. Dulfermetal specializes in gates, light fixtures, furniture, fireplace hardware, curtain rods, railings, and custom forging and fabrication. “Really, everything I make is custom; I don’t have a product line,” Dulfer says. “I have a range of items I create, but everything is bespoke, whether it’s an installation or a whole design.”
“It’s very rare that someone sets out to be a blacksmith,” Dulfer reflects. “We who practice blacksmithing take it as our responsibility to transmit the skill.” Dulfer currently has two smiths who work under him: Alex Pogzeba and John McGiffin. Dulfer is well versed in the ironwork of the past 400 years, and has studied different schools of thought to inform his own aesthetic. Often a client will have an idea in mind, whereas other times Dulfer creates original designs based on the site and other elements present. The process can be as collaborative as a client desires, but the experience is always individualized. Jet Zarkadas of Los Griegos Studios comments that Dulfer’s work is, “Creative, consistent and classy! Dulfermetal delivers quality.” Another client, Max Hooper Schneider, echoes Zarkadas’ sentiment: “I am a practicing artist who uses metal across a myriad of applications, and I rarely engage with a business that is more professional than Steve Dulfer. His shop in Santa Fe has earned my highest degree of advocacy. No matter the scale or complexity of a project, his work is museum quality.” One aspect of his business Dulfer takes particular pride in is its sustainability. The steel he uses is almost entirely recycled; his shop
is powered via wind through PNM’s Sky Blue Program; almost no toxic materials are used; and almost no toxic waste is produced. This gives added value to Dulfer’s already valuable skill and product. “Because what I make is handmade with care and attention, it has soul in a way that something that comes from a factory doesn’t. People feel that, and it connects them with the work,” Dulfer says. “That makes my work satisfying; it’s alive.” Dulfermetal 505.310.3768 www.dulfermetal.com