William is a young designer/blacksmith who set up a studio in Elderslie in The Hunter Valley last year.

 

Will did work experience as a year 10 student at Forgemasters Australia in Kurri Kurri. Following this he was offered an apprenticeship which he readily took up. His apprenticeship lasted 3(4) years, du(?) the work was mostly in industrial tooling.   On finishing he emailed the Blacksmithing Association of England, who responded enthusiastically to his enquiries, so he packed his bags and set off. He ended up living and working with the head of the Blacksmithing Association. One thing led to another and Will ended up picking up bits of work and attending a number of blacksmithing festivals throughout Europe. The festivals were huge, with a couple of hundred blacksmiths congregating and participating in all sorts of competitions and events, eg the World Forging Championships in the small country town of Stia, Italy.  The audience at these can be up to 1000 people!

 

Returning to Australia Will has set up his own studio in an old dairy on his parent’s property just out of Elderslie. He has been going to markets throughout the area which he says are a great way of meeting people and showing hem what you can do. Often this leads to the commissioning of one off works.. Will is keen to develop the sculptural aspect of his work with the potential to collaborate with architects and move into the realm of public art.