Custom Metalwork Trends

“Sooner or later, everything old is new again,” said Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid, and the blacksmithing trade is experiencing that right now. Traditional designs have been making a comeback after years of ultramodern forms. Throughout the last decade and a half, we have seen decorative metal go from traditionally forged scrollwork to precisely fabricated sheets and panels. Around 2005, hand-forged pinecones and ranc e were lowly eing ecli e y ori ontal flat bar guardrails and hot rolled steel cladding inside and out. Then in 2020, we started to see mesh guardrails and stainlesssteel kitchen hoods give way again to aspen leaves and textured copper and bronze. The entire aesthetic hasn’t completely returned to the era of the high mountain ski cabin, but we have been meeting with many new clients who want to have a “more forged look” or a “more rustic impression” to give their very contemporary spaces a “more grounded feel.”

Blacksmithing itself has entered something of a renai ance a more eo le fin intere t in t e tra e It seems a knee jerk reaction to the technological saturation of our modern world as people crave handcrafted products, personal connections and tangi le goo ro uce y t eir own effort T i resurgence of the art of blacksmithing has coincided with the slow food movement and that of the craft beer and whiskey trade. There has been a greater demand for workshops and instructional opportunities among clients and journeymen alike. This popularity has translated into a more handcrafted product in new residential constructions, commercial developments and remodels. In our 54 years of custom metalwork in the Tahoe Basin, we have seen trends circulate in a more or less predictable pattern. We’ve seen very ornate light fi ture an ecorati e fire lace tool , or e am le, transition to contemporary designs of sharp angles and straight edges then back into curvaceous designs and heavily hammered textures. Not only do the designs and overall aesthetic of metalwork change, but so do the products themselves. Before the Sunset Magazine Lake Tahoe Idea House of October 2007 unveiled its sliding barn door, we hadn’t forged or fabricated a single one. By March 2022, we had completed nearly 150.

We went from seeing tons of rock work surrounding a fire lace to in talling teel cla ing t ere in tea Fireplace cladding was a fairly new idea in 2010, but now it’ common lace Cu tom fire lace oor a e een re lace y fire lace creen a fire lace a e gone from wood burners to gas inserts.

We are always happy when metalwork can hold the honored place of artwork in homes or businesses. Clients are once again choosing functional art as “show pieces” in their new spaces; and we are thrilled to once again hear the clang of the hammer on the anvil, forging metal. Thanks to Jennifer Standteiner at Mountain Forge, Inc. for writing this article. You can contact Jennifer at 530.550.0511, info@mtnforge. com or www.mtnforge.com.