I first met Doug at the Penland School of Craft in 1998.
He taught the two-month long fall blacksmith concentration
class.
Doug's teaching and blacksmithing skills were in full view at
Penland. His teaching style was a bit different from other
teachers. A class or two started at midnight for example.
One project required the smiths to collaborate with another
student in the metals, fiber, clay, or glass classes to create
a 'cup'...a vessel to drink wine out of at Doug’s residence
prior to dinner one evening.
About Halloween, Doug suddenly interrupted the daily class
routine. The task was to build a pumpkin catapult from
what we could find around campus. A catapult was field
tested later in the day and then dismantled before it hurt
someone!
Then there was a “bones” project...a pickup sticks game
played with forged chicken bones dumped from an iron
cup. Bones was the most hotly contested game on campus!
Exercises like these augmented the long hours in the shop
working on individual projects. There also were the regular
class critiques of finished work and Doug's constant presence
in the shop for solicited and unsolicited guidance on design
and process problems.
Doug constantly promoted the craft through his production
line of iron products for the home, commissions,
demonstrations and volunteer work with BAM and
ABANA. As a result, he always knew what was going
on in the blacksmithing community. Doug managed to
give me and many others a new way of looking at all
things related to blacksmithing whether it had to do
with forging or organizing a smithing event.
Marilyn and I visited with Doug and Bonnie last July.
Doug used only his chair by then but you would never
know it unless you looked at him. He was Doug.
His disease was an issue he faced head-on and in a way
most of us can only hope to do when it is our turn.
The day before we arrived all of his work from the
ABANA Conference arrived in his basement. It was
sitting all over the place. We looked at it together and
he gave me permission to take some pictures. I said I
would do it in the morning when there would be a little
natural light.
The next morning I left the camper and went down to
the basement. I spent some time just looking at this body
of work I never saw before. Some elements I recognized
from his experimenting at Penland. It was not long after
I arrived in the basement when I heard Bonnie and Doug
stirring up stairs. A few minutes later I heard Doug at the
basement door and he scooted in.
When I got to one of his pieces for a picture, he said to wait
He had me put some rocks into a vessel first. A white stone
needed to rest on the top of the reddish ones. He told me
it was his favorite piece. I asked him why. His answer was:
“It’s so serine”. The way he said it, his answer was more
than a reply to my question.
Marilyn and I left Doug and Bonnie’s place in the woods
with very heavy hearts. Both of them were never far away
in our thoughts. We will cherish the memories and continue
to enjoy Doug’s art. I sure miss him.
He taught the two-month long fall blacksmith concentration
class.
Doug's teaching and blacksmithing skills were in full view at
Penland. His teaching style was a bit different from other
teachers. A class or two started at midnight for example.
One project required the smiths to collaborate with another
student in the metals, fiber, clay, or glass classes to create
a 'cup'...a vessel to drink wine out of at Doug’s residence
prior to dinner one evening.
About Halloween, Doug suddenly interrupted the daily class
routine. The task was to build a pumpkin catapult from
what we could find around campus. A catapult was field
tested later in the day and then dismantled before it hurt
someone!
Then there was a “bones” project...a pickup sticks game
played with forged chicken bones dumped from an iron
cup. Bones was the most hotly contested game on campus!
Exercises like these augmented the long hours in the shop
working on individual projects. There also were the regular
class critiques of finished work and Doug's constant presence
in the shop for solicited and unsolicited guidance on design
and process problems.
Doug constantly promoted the craft through his production
line of iron products for the home, commissions,
demonstrations and volunteer work with BAM and
ABANA. As a result, he always knew what was going
on in the blacksmithing community. Doug managed to
give me and many others a new way of looking at all
things related to blacksmithing whether it had to do
with forging or organizing a smithing event.
Marilyn and I visited with Doug and Bonnie last July.
Doug used only his chair by then but you would never
know it unless you looked at him. He was Doug.
His disease was an issue he faced head-on and in a way
most of us can only hope to do when it is our turn.
The day before we arrived all of his work from the
ABANA Conference arrived in his basement. It was
sitting all over the place. We looked at it together and
he gave me permission to take some pictures. I said I
would do it in the morning when there would be a little
natural light.
The next morning I left the camper and went down to
the basement. I spent some time just looking at this body
of work I never saw before. Some elements I recognized
from his experimenting at Penland. It was not long after
I arrived in the basement when I heard Bonnie and Doug
stirring up stairs. A few minutes later I heard Doug at the
basement door and he scooted in.
When I got to one of his pieces for a picture, he said to wait
He had me put some rocks into a vessel first. A white stone
needed to rest on the top of the reddish ones. He told me
it was his favorite piece. I asked him why. His answer was:
“It’s so serine”. The way he said it, his answer was more
than a reply to my question.
Marilyn and I left Doug and Bonnie’s place in the woods
with very heavy hearts. Both of them were never far away
in our thoughts. We will cherish the memories and continue
to enjoy Doug’s art. I sure miss him.
