Cover Story

from Eye On Magazine JUNE 2021

Unity Health Harris

Joseph Thomas is a native of Grubbs, a graduate of ASUN and owns and runs Eye On Magazine with his powerhouse wife, Kimberlee. He is the graphic designer, editor and one of the various writers of this publication. He is elevated by five children, five grandchildren and is trying to waste less time everyday writing the next great novel.

James Yuri Carlyle

One day I was up for my morning workout when my phone rang. A Mister Tommy Rankin called to tell me about a young man he admired and thought would make a great cover for our magazine. He proceeded to inform me that Arkansas has more Master Blade Smiths than any other state and that Dequeen, Arkansas is the Blade Smithing capital of the world. It was a great conversation about a remarkable young man. That young man is James Yuri Carlyle.

Carlyle and his twin brother were born in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine and adopted before they could remember what it might have been like. For those uncertain of the geography, Ukraine is northeast of Romania, southeast of Poland, due east of Germany and France in Europe. Dnepropetrovsk, previously Yekaterinoslav until 1926, is the city and industrial center situated on the River Dnieper in Ukraine according to the www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ dnepropetrovsk.

Dale and Carol Carlyle became the proud parents who taught the boys to hunt and fish in DeQueen, Arkansas.

James told me: “Mom and Dad are both from Arkansas and brought my brother, Jack, and I here to raise. I loved being outdoors and took a liking to hunting and fishing. As I got older, I started making stuff with my hands all the time. Arkansas has a deep historic tie to knives and most importantly the Bowie knife. I came across a local knife makers meeting that was held every second Thursday of the month. I met custom knife makers of all skill levels and I got acquainted with Jerry Fisk Master Bladesmith.

I was honored with being his last formal apprentice through a grant from University of Arkansas. After that, I knew what my passion was for. I’ve been professionally making and selling custom knives for eight years now. I’ve attended many custom knife shows around the state and few out of state. I moved to Jonesboro, Arkansas for my higher education at Arkansas State and received my Bachelor’s in Science and Mathematics. During my college years, I achieved the rank of Journeyman smith through the American Bladesmith Society in the fall of 2017. I’m currently working at Auger Dans Trucks in Trumann, Arkansas. My goal is to spread the knowledge and passion of bladesmithing to everyone who is willing to carry on this dying art. I’m currently working towards my Teaching Licensure of Mathematics and my Mastersmith ranking. I take custom orders and if you’d like to see how this craft is done just come by and see me at 21460 Old Winery Rd. Trumann, Arkansas!

The state holds many custom knife events throughout the year. In fact, in the American Bladesmith Society, over 10% of all Mastersmiths reside in Arkansas and Jerry Fisk trained over half of the current masters.

I know of two great places to learn this craft, American Bladesmith Society school at Texarkana College Arkansas, and James Black Bladesmithing school of UofA in historic Washington Arkansas. I currently take students who want to learn any part of this craft.” N

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