Today we’d like to introduce you to Joy Fire.
Hi Joy, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Near the end of college, I accidentally stumbled upon a working blacksmith shop. I was on my way to graduating with a BA in Studio Art from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, where I had explored many mediums but not settled on one as a focus. However, I knew I enjoyed the mediums where I was making three-dimensional work and mediums that were physically strenuous and/or dirty. Stone sculpture, small metals (jewelry), and bronze casting, for example. When I stumbled upon the blacksmith shop, which specialized in architectural, ornamental ironwork, I knew I found something special, something I could devote myself to learning and developing, something I would find great delight in participating in. I was so fortunate to start my learning of the medium first as an apprentice at the shop I found, then a part-time, and finally a full-time employee for several years. Blacksmithing has been with me since then, through many personal ups and downs and life changes. The road wasn’t easy or obvious or simple to follow, it is only when looking back that it might seem so, but I am very grateful for the place I am at now and the possibilities that exist in front of me.
In 2014 I left the job at the blacksmith shop to move to Orange County where my partner had been accepted to a PHD program. It was very difficult, but also it was time to try something new. Eventually, I felt financially stable enough, and the need was great enough, that I was able to rent a space in Santa Ana where I could forge, which is where I still do my work today. I share the cost of the space and several of the larger tools with my partner and one other friend of ours who is also a blacksmith. Again, I was very fortunate in this arrangement, as the expense would probably have been beyond my reach otherwise. I created a sole proprietorship, Joy Fire Metalwork, made a website, put myself on google, participated in local craft shows, and whatever else came my way that might get my name out as a blacksmith, welder, metal fabricator, or would bring in income in any way. I was also teaching community education classes through Orange Coast College in blacksmithing, bronze casting, and welding, which brought in a more substantial paycheck, and of course I was sharing the cost of rent and living with my partner, without whom I would not have been able to do any of this!
Over the years I have been fortunate to have worked on many projects, some simple, some much more complex and interesting. At the same time, I have continued making work just for myself, trying to develop and explore my personal style and aesthetic. I am most drawn to functional objects, especially furniture, finding the interaction with the human body and mind to be endlessly fascinating. After several years of working slowly on developing my skills in this way, I finally decided I deserved a more focused approach to my work as an artist and began the arduous process of applying to graduate schools. Long journey short, in 2019 I was accepted to several programs but landed at Claremont Graduate University. It was a promising-looking school of course, but most importantly they offered me a full tuition scholarship. Yet another gift of fortune for which I will always be grateful. At the time I was also teaching part-time in the welding department at Orange Coast College, plus running my own shop, so it was a busy two years, but I graduate in May of 2022 as an official Master of Art. A successful artist doesn’t have to have an MFA of course, but for me, it was a gift to try to discover the kind of work I wanted to make, where it might fit in the larger historical discourse, and why I was making it. These are questions I am still trying to find the answer to!
My story is by no means complete, but I have come a long way, and I am fortunate and very grateful to be right where I am today.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My road has not always been smooth or at all obvious. I had to work through a lot of self-doubts, self-depreciation, depression, and lack of self-worth. There were times when even blacksmithing did not seem worth pursuing and that I would never be good enough at it anyway. But even amid personal struggles, I could never abandon art and the act of creation. While I went through times where I felt like my creativity and motivation had left me and would never return, my interest in the medium of blacksmithing and the act of forging always drew me back in. My journey as a blacksmith, artist, designer, creator, etc. parallels my journey and growth as a person, which I think is the case for many artists. While I expect that there will be more bumps on the road ahead, I feel so much stronger and surer of myself now, and I know I will be able to navigate them. I know that my work as an artist will always be there to support me, no matter how it evolves.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a blacksmith, which means I forge metal. Forging is the act of heating metal until it’s soft enough to be malleable and then shaping it with hammers and other tools. Blacksmiths mainly work in steel, but many, like myself, also forge bronze, aluminum, and other nonferrous metals. I love everything about forging metal, even the frustrating parts. In the past when I would make mistakes I would take them so personally, as personal failures, but now I can laugh at my mistakes and learn from them. Even mistakes can be fun! Forging is very physical; I often talk about it as thinking with my hands. My brain absolutely must be engaged, but the rest of my body is thinking just as hard. The best times in forging is when everything flows. My body knows what to do and it moves beautifully, interacting with the metal exactly in the way it needs to. It’s like dancing, it’s perfection.
I find myself most drawn to functional objects, something that another body can touch and interact with. Sometimes this is small objects, like bowls, cooking utensils, or drawer pulls, and other times I can work much larger, making furniture, railings, gates, etc. The small objects are nice because they are more intimate, and I can make them quicker, enjoying the satisfaction of completing a project sooner. But I do appreciate the challenge of making larger objects as well, especially furniture, which has such interesting constraints. Furniture has to be comfortable to use, sturdy, and well-designed all at once.
My favorite types of projects are ones where I am making something highly specific for a specific place or purpose. Sometimes these projects are brought to me by clients, sometimes they are for my own use or for someone special in my life. When I am making work that comes entirely from my own head I find that coming up with specific rules or constraints are an important part of my process. For my MFA thesis show, for example, I developed a set of design rules using specific forging and joinery techniques that I then applied to the various pieces I made. Namely, a floor lamp, a bed frame, a table, and a chair. These objects had a broader context in my mind, which I wanted to share with the audience. So, I also made four short films, using an antique 8mm camera, featuring these objects and various characters interacting with them. There was also a soundscape playing on a loop in the gallery as a way to bring in sound as well as sight. I do enjoy exploring other mediums like film, and I work in photography and stained glass as well. They all share basic similarities with blacksmithing however, at least in my mind, and blacksmithing remains my foundational medium, no matter what else I may be practicing.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Only that I was very fortunate to be able to keep teaching and had my own space to still make my work. It just reinforced how important blacksmithing and making art is to me. I know a lot of people lost access to places they loved or activities they enjoyed doing, but I didn’t, and I am sure that still being able to go to my shop and play helped me to maintain my mental and physical health.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://joyfireblacksmith.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joyfire/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChXcNiOwkeDK7SmQIirEMgg
- Other: https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/joy-fire-35826?campaign_id=1049
Image Credits
Pierce Kelly Valenzuela
