Traditions: Ohio Heritage Fellows; 302; Brian Thompson interview

Q:

BRIAN: Brian Thompson. B-r-i-a-n T-h-o-m-p-s-o-n.

Q:

BRIAN: I’m the president of the Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil Blacksmith Club in Troy, Ohio.

Q:

BRIAN: Um, what I’ve seen of it and, uh, that’s he’s brought to the club, a lot of it is religion based. Um, he had, uh, one of them was a, uh, like a burning bush, a copper bush that had propane flames or whatever and that seems to be the biggest driving force of his, of his art unless he’s commissioned to do a piece. I know there’s been a couple of pieces where people come to him with ideas and then he puts his flare on to it, you know, but, uh, he’s good at picking out what, what it is he can fit in or what he enjoys and that’s rare. A lot of people try to get... take in whatever jobs they can take in and, you know, to bring the money in. Roy seems to be very selective on what he wants to work on.

Q:

BRIAN: Uh, he’s very generous, um, anytime anybody in the club has any ideas... he helped me out last week. I did a ladle and I and I told him I... well, I may this ladle before and it’s the only second one I’ve made and I told him, I said, I’m fighting the rivets in this ladle and they were steel rivets and he said, ugh, first problem. He says, you have to use copper rivets in a copper ladle because the soft material on soft material it will work its way loose. So, he was generous enough to come out Saturday and, uh, brought, uh, rivet material and he helped me finish it and, uh, got it all done, so it was great having his expertise in it since he’s done so many of ‘em. Um, but he’s very helpful. Any time we have, uh, uh, a, uh, high school class that wants to have a... wants to see a blacksmith demonstration, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, whatever it is, uh, I can call Roy up and say, hey, you want to teach a, you know, do a demo for these... for the school or for the kids or whatever and he jumps right on it. So, uh, he’s real good about helping out wherever he can. He’s done quite a few classes at our club, um, any time I need a demo, you know, like, in a quick spot, I can say, hey man, you know, can you help us out? And, he does. So, he’s very generous with his time and his opinion and his ideas and really good.

Q:

BRIAN: It can translate into that and, and a lot of people, they... that’s one of their first things is they say, I want to be a blacksmith or I want to do it for a living. Um, or they want to be a knife maker or whatever it is. Um, and Roy early on decided that was something he wanted to do and he tells a story and I don’t know if he talked to you about it or not where he had something that he had made and he took it to the group that he was around and said, hey check this out. And, everybody will say, well, that looks nice or you know, they give you kudos for it or whatever and they said, there was one stern guy in the group that was known for giving, you know, criticism and, uh, Roy was a little apprehensive and asked him and showed it to him and I guess the guy asked him, and I’m paraphrasing, he said, well, what do you want to do with this? Where do you want to take this? And, he said, well, I want do it for a living and he said, that’s not good enough. He says, you know, you’re missing this element, this element... people talk about there’s a guy in our club, Steve Roth that’s an artist and he talks about negative space and positive space on your work and, uh, this guy explained to Roy, you know, this needs corrected, this needs help and told him what all he needed and he said, that’s one of the key things that helped him was that type of criticism, no, you’re not good enough yet. You know, this is what you need to improve and he always looks for that criticism or critiquing of his stuff and he does that with other people in the club. You know, a lot of us will say... look at something and go, if we don’t want to hurt the guys feelings, you know, we’ll say, yeah, that looks okay but you really have to be, if you want to help ‘em you have to be willing to hurt their feelings and say, that’s not up to standard if that’s what you want to go for and Roy’s good at that.

Q:

BRIAN: Perfection. I think he, he wants to be a perfectionist at it and he wants to be known, he wants to be known, um, for doing nice work. He just enjoys it. I mean, he doesn’t... a lot of his work that he does, he’s built a few hammers to help himself out but he has no big equipment, uh, it’s all hand, it’s all what he does with his... with his arm and his hammers and, uh, he just seems to be driven to it and nowadays you have to be, um, he does a lot of his stuff through the internet and self-promotion and, uh, that’s what it takes nowadays. He sells internationally and everything, um, you have to be on the ball. He was our newsletter editor for a while and he had to give it up because it was a balancing act between family, profession and the, and the club and, uh, he found himself too late at night working on the newsletter... newsletter and, uh, taking away from his family and he said, well, somethings gotta give and, uh, rightfully so, he said, I can’t do the newsletter anymore. So, uh, balancing act.

Q:

BRIAN: I would probably say, his detail that he puts into it. Um, it’s one thing to get a name for yourself and do artwork where you can claim bigger money for your work especially if you’re in an area that will bring it, Dayton isn’t one of those areas really, um, but a lot of his stuff is... it’s not... a lot of his money doesn’t necessarily come from artwork, it comes from flat out blacksmithed hardware and items. Um, and that’s impressive. It’s one thing to be a, a name artist and getting a lot of your money that way but a lot of his stuff is from fry pans and spatulas and a lot of that work, a lot of piece work. You gotta be driven to put that much receptiveness into it, that’s one thing I don’t care for. I don’t care for... and I have an idea and I make something and it’s like oh, I gotta make 50 of those, I don’t like that idea but, uh, a lot of stuff that Roy needs to do, that’s what he hammers out and that’s what... whatever needs to be done that’s what he gets done.

Q:

BRIAN: I would say it’s very hard. Blacksmithing is nice in that if you’re a hobbyist, um, you can find a niche whether it’s a knife or candlestick holders or whatever and you can pay for your, uh, hobby, you can make enough money that you can buy another anvil or buy tools or whatever but to actually support a family with it, that takes a lot of perseverance and a lot of work. Uh, I only know, uh, I think three or four of ‘em, people that do it for... actually do it for a living, that their... that their spouses aren’t supporting them or whatever, so... uh... so it takes a lot of effort.

Q:

BRIAN: I don’t know... with Roy’s work, I don’t know, um, I’ve seen him do things from normal stuff you’d find in a household to, uh, he did a custom motorcycle, uh, leaves and stuff on the frame of a motorcycle then, I guess, the motorcycles on one of the top motorcycle magazines, a guy won in a show. Uh, so he’s... I think it’s a big variety. If something interests him then Roy is willing to take it on to see what he can do with it.

Q:

BRIAN: Can’t really say. Um, I know in, in, uh, scale and numbers it’s gone up. But, uh, any time you’re... I’m not familiar enough with his earlier work, um, but any time you’re a smith or an artist and you start on something, when you build one thing and then you look at it and go well, if I change this I can make this out of it or whatever. So, um, not seeing a lot of his earlier stuff I can’t really say but, um, as an artist and as a blacksmith or whatever or woodworker or whatever it is you do, uh, you know, Roy has improved simply because any time you, you make something you have an idea of what you can make out of that same curve by doing it a different way.

Q:

BRIAN: To be... to be where he’s at and for Roy, to be where he’s at, uh, at his age and not being in a Seattle or New England state or whatever where there’s more money and more interest in the art, um, I’d say he’s done very well for, for his age. Um, and a lot of that has to do with his, uh, internet presence, uh, with his... Roy makes a lot of videos, how to videos, he shares his knowledge and they’re all... they’re free, this is how you do it type thing and, uh, Roy really gets his name out there a lot from that. So, I think, um, that is the biggest thing that has helped him out because we’re not in a... we’re not in an area that really enjoys, you know, paying money for good iron work, it’s just not in our area.

Q:

BRIAN: Well, he gets a lot more id... he gets his name out there so as, as Roy’s working on different projects he has... if you get your, your name out and your pieces out into so many... that big of a field with Etsy and his web channel, um, then you get other people will say, well, if you can do this, can you make this? So, people are throwing him ideas and asking if he can do something and then whether he can or can’t, he can, you know, decide what he wants to take on but the more you’re out there and the more people see something, see your work and they... and see your promotion, um, the how to videos and everything it, um, you just start getting a lot more requests and, uh, you know, that’s the best thing he can do is just, it’s sheer numbers.

Q:

BRIAN: Well, there’s a lot... you can... I can hammer out a, oh, a candle opener or can opener or something, any item you want to call, widget, whatever you want to call it and people will buy it rough. Uh, some people like it rough, some people, you know, like it with more of a finish and, uh, Roy takes more of an effort to finish his work to where it has a nicer classier look. There’s ways... there’s ways of making your steel look hard or making it look soft by taking the edges off. You can take a, a, uh, square, quarter inch square piece of steel and make an S-hook out of it but you can make it a lot more elegant if you hammer down the corners, when you bend it, it gives it a softer look, depending on how you treat it and how you work it. Um, and I think he refines his stuff down pretty good (CAR NOISE) as far as...

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As far as wanting... RESTART

He refines it to where it had... He refines it to where it has more of a softer look, more of an elegant look to it. Um, uh, a lot of his pans and different stuff that I’ve seen him make that, uh, he just puts more into and it’s a fine line. Uh, you can, uh, work a piece to death and put more hours into it and not make any more money. Um, you can... I’ve had things that I’ve done for people that, you know, I end up going too far with it and so you have to know as a professional, you have to know where do I stop and call it done and, and that’s where the money is. Um, so you have to decide when you’re over killing it, you know, and a lot of times you can do that. You can, uh, take it too far, farther than what really the customer wanted and, uh, you gotta know when to, when to hold it back and when to stop it and he seems to have a... he has a very good... Roy has got a very good concept, a very good, uh, I don’t know what you would write... what you’d call it but if there’s a job that he sees doesn’t fit what he wants to do and where he wants to go with it, he doesn’t do that job. Um, he’s good at deciding and he’s got... if forget, he explained to me one time what his formula is and, uh, it’s... and he sticks with it and that’s, that’s the way he wants to do his business and it works for him.

Q:

BRIAN: Well, a lot... a lot of people believe that blacksmithing is a lost art and people will still say that today although there are, uh, in Ohio I think there’s four different clubs, um, so it’s one of those things you don’t hear about unless you really look into it. Um, and, um, to see for our younger smiths to see somebody who’s doing it, who’s doing it their way with what they want to work on and is having that much success at it, um, with his videos and stuff, I think Roy is a good example of what it takes to, to make it. I mean, it takes perseverance, it takes hard word, it takes being in the shop until two o’clock in the morning and that kind of thing and, uh, going to classes and teaching classes but, uh, I think they see that it’s... they’re not seeing an older person that has made it years ago, they’re seeing somebody who’s actually doing it today and doing it in a medium with the internet that they can use now. So, I think it’s a good example of what you have to do.

Q:

BRIAN: Actually, I believe he’s at a class this week. Um, all this week I think he’s gone. But, um, it shows that, uh, Roy always believes there’s something else you can learn. Uh, there’s, there’s a lot of people out there that, uh, are willing to teach and there’s... you might think as an artist or, or as somebody who blacksmiths things or makes things that you know I’ve made this item and I know that’s, that’s the best way to make it but then you’ll go to somebody else’s shop and see another tool and the way they’ve done it, they simplify it and now they’ve saved time or whatever. Um, and, uh, any time Roy can go to other classes and see other experts do it, you’re gonna learn a better process, you’re gonna learn a better way to do it. And, there’s a lot of times, um, you’ll see somebody make something and then in your own mind it will click and well, if I do that this way it will be better for me. It all depends on your tooling and experience level. Um, and he’s still working at getting more of that experience level. Going to take classes with people that he admires (CAR SOUND) and looks up to.

Q:

BRIAN: Um, I just think his personality of, it’s not all about... you have to have a self-promoting attitude to make it in the business. Um, but he’s so willing to help anybody else that asks him any questions (CAR NOISE).

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Um, his artistic ability and also he, he like to generate that information out, he likes to promote it and, uh, anybody asks him any questions he’s willing to show ‘em exactly how to do something and the best way to do it that he knows, um, just the fact that he’s promoting it, um, at a level that he is, um, there isn’t a time that you don’t see him in the club that he’s not talking with a group of people and, and explaining something or whatever it is. He’s, uh, he just promotes it, he promotes the craft.

Q:

BRIAN: Um, I know he’s been in the club... he’s been in the club for 8 or 9 years. Um, and we... I know, we’ve used him extensively as a demonstrator and stuff probably for the last six or so. Uh, he’s, uh, I don’t know, he’s just... I count on him a lot as far as doing demos and helping out with stuff or whatever. So, uh, he’s just... what you see is what you get, I mean, he’s just as honest and as, and as forthright as he appears, that’s exactly the way he is. I mean, he’s... he doesn’t mix words, if there’s something he wants to say, he’ll say it. And, uh, that’s rare and we need more of it but, uh, it’s, uh, you know, he’s just willing to jump in wherever... wherever you need him at.

Q:

BRIAN: The way he’s doing his business, yes he is, you have to be. Um, and like I say, unless you’re living in a certain area, um, that is big into, uh, iron work but, uh, to do it nowadays I know another... I know several guys that use the internet, um, another gentleman that I know that, uh, uh, was one of the apprentices out at Carriage Hill, uh, he makes skewers, uh, barbecue skewers and some national magazine saw his, saw his stuff and it was... and then he bought it and now he’s working like crazy in his backyard making these skewers because its on... in a magazine, so. Um, and that’s the way to do it because you can do... you can go places, you can do shows, uh, the only problem with that is, is now when you leave your shop and you’re doing shows you’re not making anything, you’re not working in your shop, you’re not producing, that’s all an expense, where if you can promote yourself on the internet and use that nowadays, um, you can still be working, uh, it only takes a couple hours out of your time or whatever, however much time you want to put in it. Uh, but to try to go around to different, uh, oh, uh, what do you call ‘em? Conventions or whatever and try to sell your stuff you’re talking money for booth space and travel expenses and all that kind of stuff and that’s... you’re not making anything. If you’re doing that you’re not... you’re not in the shop working and that’s where it’s at, you gotta be working, you gotta be producing.

ROOM TONE END