Mike Wood Home Page

My exposure to metalworking began when I was in middle school shop class in Flagstaff, Arizona. The shop had a gas forge, an old anvil, and a few tongs. I remember being fascinated with the process of forging iron - taking a hard piece of lifeless metal, heating it, and hammering it to “life”.

sparks I continued my interest in art, studying ceramics for 3 years In high school, and for a couple of semesters in college. My interest in the ceramic medium came from my mother's influence, as she had a ceramic studio set up in our garage, with a gas kiln in the back yard. Because of her, as long as I can remember I have had a deep appreciation for art and the process of making art. I revisited metalworking in the form of aluminum fabrication in the early 90’s, taking a job with a company that constructed aluminum whitewater rafting equipment for commercial rafting companies. I really enjoyed the aspect of making things with my hands, but fabrication didn’t really provide the artistic release that I was looking for. After my tinier at the aluminum shop, I bought a welder, some basic tools, and started doing freelance welding/fabricating out of my garage. During that time my father gave me a book on blacksmithing. This inspired me to find an old piece of railroad track, buy a cross peen hammer, and with a cutting torch as a heat source, proceed to bang around some iron.

In 2000, the national blacksmithing conference was held in Flagstaff, where I was living at the time. The demonstrations I attended really opened my eyes, and I realized that blacksmithing could be a legitimate art form. I finally found something that filled the artistic void that was left by my abandonment of ceramics. I then opened Blue Agave Forge, which I operated in Flagstaff for four years. When my wife graduated from graduate school and found employment in Murphys, CA, I moved my shop and opened Murphys Ironworks. I operated that shop for about four years before a unique career opportunity presented itself to my wife, allowing us to move to Santa Cruz. My new shop here in Santa Cruz operates under the name Michael Wood Metalsmith. I still focus on commissioned metal work, but have also explored sculptural endeavors, and product line development.

Blacksmithing is a life long journey, I have discovered, and after ten years I have just barely embarked on that journey.


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	My exposure to metalworking began when I was in middle school shop class in Flagstaff, Arizona. The shop had a gas forge, an old anvil, and a few tongs. I remember being fascinated with the process of forging iron - taking a hard piece of lifeless metal, heating it, and hammering it to “life”. I continued my interest in art, studying ceramics for 3 years In high school, and for a couple of semesters in college. My interest in the ceramic medium came from my mother's influence, as she had a ceramic studio set up in our garage, with a gas kiln in the back yard. Because of her, as long as I can remember I have had a deep appreciation for art and the process of making art. I revisited metalworking in the form of aluminum fabrication in the early 90’s, taking a job with a company that constructed aluminum whitewater rafting equipment for commercial rafting companies. I really enjoyed the aspect of making things with my hands, but fabrication didn’t really provide the artistic release that I was looking for. After my tinier at the aluminum shop, I bought a welder, some basic tools, and started doing freelance welding/fabricating out of my garage. During that time my father gave me a book on blacksmithing. This inspired me to find an old piece of railroad track, buy a cross peen hammer, and with a cutting torch as a heat source, proceed to bang around some iron. In 2000, the national blacksmithing conference was held in Flagstaff, where I was living at the time. The demonstrations I attended really opened my eyes, and I realized that blacksmithing could be a legitimate art form. I finally found something that filled the artistic void that was left by my abandonment of ceramics. I then opened Blue Agave Forge, which I operated in Flagstaff for four years. When my wife graduated from graduate school and found employment in Murphys, CA, I moved my shop and opened Murphys Ironworks. I operated that shop for about four years before a unique career opportunity presented itself to my wife, allowing us to move to Santa Cruz. My new shop here in Santa Cruz operates under the name Michael Wood Metalsmith. I still focus on commissioned metal work, but have also explored sculptural endeavors, and product line development. Blacksmithing is a life long journey, I have discovered, and after ten years I have just barely embarked on that journey.