“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life,” said Chinese philosopher Confucius.
Blacksmiths John Monteath and Brenda Field chose precisely for those reasons.
“I turned my hobby into my job, but it’s still my hobby. When we’re not blacksmithing professionally we tend to be blacksmithing for ourselves,” said Monteath.
The husband and wife team own and operate Manuka Forge on an acreage near Cochrane, Alta.
They recently taught an advanced blacksmithing clinic at the Western Development Museum in Saskatoon to 35 students whose experience ranged from beginners to long-time smiths.
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Monteath and Field started with flat and round metal stock to build the sculpture of a bird. It resembled a heron taking flight, which allowed them to work while explaining design aspects, such as negative space, transitions and components that flow and portray movement.
The project also explored applying texture, assembly using forge welding, rivets and collars, and protecting their work.
Monteath grew up on a sheep farm in southern New Zealand and worked on farms in Western Australia. Field, who spent her summers on her grandparents’ farm near Rimbey, Alta., until she was 16, became a pharmacist.
The two met and married while she was travelling in Australia.
They moved to Calgary in 1997 and a bored Monteath, waiting for his work permit, discovered the forge and anvil while helping a friend make metal furniture.
“Pretty much the first time I struck some hot steel on an anvil and experienced how wonderful it is when hot metal moves under the hammer, I was immediately excited by it,” he said.
Field kept her day job as a pharmacist and Monteath transformed their garage into a smithy.
They began with small projects, such as candleholders, CD racks and plant stands, which helped Monteath develop his skills and his eye for design.
When his work permit arrived, the couple started selling their wares at a craft market in Calgary. Word of mouth soon led to commercial work and architectural jobs.
“In a year we went from CD racks and plant stands to making railings and bigger scale furniture,” said Field.
The price tags have also increased.
Monteath said when they started in 1997 they earned$50 to $200 on the items they sold.
“At the end of it we were getting $10,000 contracts. That was the first indication that we really might be onto something, that we might be able to justify me not having a proper job.”
Monteath said he knew by 2000 that they could make a living from blacksmithing.
Today, they are among a small group of elite blacksmiths sought after for their unique design and building of architectural features such as staircases and window railings.
They credit their farm background for their success because it taught them how to think creatively and solve problems.
“It wasn’t unlimited resources so you had to figure stuff out and learn how to sort things out by yourself with what was around. There’s a lot of that ethic in blacksmithing. I think there probably always has been,” said Monteath.
