(soft music) -It's kind of -(metal clinking) a weird dichotomy of you have -(metal clinking) -this mined material, metal, that is in a lotta ways, -very separated from -(metal clinking) what we think of as the natural world, but it is a natural material -(metal clinking) -that is in rocks and in Earth.

(soft music continues) (metal clinking) Everything I do, I try to relate it back -to something in nature -(metal clinking) that I am thinking about at the time, but trying to make something that's an artistic representation, slightly cartoonish, -that isn't trying to -(metal clinking) perfect something that's already perfect.

(soft music continues) (metal clinking) I'm Quinn McKay.

I am an artist blacksmith here in Birmingham, Alabama.

To me, blacksmithing is the manipulation of metal, hot or cold, but it's a bunch of techniques and physical properties of the metal that you apply force to as the blacksmith -to create objects, shapes, -(light music) textures, profiles, (metal clinking) (tool scraping) I discovered blacksmithing back in 2016.

In my high school, -there was a project -(tool scraping) where every sophomore had to learn a new skill, and I figured blacksmithing was the most applicable -to that criteria -(metal scraping) out of all of my crazy ideas I had at the time.

-(tool scraping) -I took some classes back in North Carolina where I grew up, and then I was in a video production class -in high school as well, -(tool scraping) and my teacher of that class saw a video that I made of the blacksmithing -(tool scraping) -as she gave us an assignment to show off a hobby that we have been learning.

And then she came up to me later that day and told me about a college that she learned about, the American College of the Building Arts, and I decided to apply, and rather than go to architecture school -which I'd always planned.

-(metal clinking) And I went through a four-year program in artist blacksmithing.

(soft music) (metal clinking) I think blacksmithing clicked with me when I realized how -extremely creative it is.

-(metal clinking) Almost debilitatingly creative.

Like, you can do literally anything -(metal clinking) -with metal that you can -visualize or draw.

-(metal clinking) It can either be sheet metal, -or a solid bar, -(metal clinking) or you can forage pipe, -or you can weld things -(metal clinking) together in the fire, you can weld things together with an electric welder.

(metal clinking) Possibilities are endless, and that was really enticing, -and a little daunting, -(metal clinking) but I really enjoy the process that that gives me.

(soft music continues) -(metal clinking) -When I'm forging, I'm trying to maintain the integrity of the material.

To me, that means allowing the material to deform based on the force I'm applying to it.

So that could look like punching a hole and allowing the sides of the material to swell out, and to show that there's a hole being punched rather than just a hole being drilled.

That could be done by a machine.

So since I'm not trying to act like a machine when I'm doing my work, I'll leave that element.

And that's evidence of craft, but it's also the metal doing what it wants to do, and I find a level of intimacy with the material there that's like, I'm doing something to it, but it does something for me and creates its own beauty, and I'm not really the one doing it in a way.

Yeah, there's definitely a sense of community.

On any given day, there's gonna be at least two other metalworkers coming in and outta here, talking to us, sharing material.

A lot of sharing material.

People run out of something specific and they're like, "Let me go run down there, five minutes, and see if someone has this specific bar I need."

I wasn't surprised that there were blacksmith shops here and metal fabrication shops here.

But blacksmithing is a little bit more niche, but I'm yet to find a city that doesn't have blacksmiths in it, which is very cool as a blacksmith.

I feel like I can go most places and have a job, and work with a ton of creative people.

It means there's a lot of people that think the way I do -about metal and art.

-(metal clinking) (tool scarping) (soft music) I have been on a bit of a journey -for the last couple years -(metal clinking) since graduating from college.

I thought that blacksmithing was, you know, the thing I'd do forever, -and that it was -(metal clinking) the ultimate creative expression, and that private commissions, working for really great clients, making custom art pieces was exactly what I wanted to do, and I've learned that that isn't necessarily my end goal anymore.

As an artist, I find myself to be -an educator in awe, -(metal clinking) and getting other people to appreciate things, and teaching other people to find the beauty in everyday objects and processes.

I've found that creating a sense of awe -(metal clinking) -doesn't have to be through grand exhibitions and large commission pieces.

Educating an artistic medium can bring that same fulfillment for me, and also give that fulfillment to other people, and that's literally educating how to create -(metal clinking) -something beautiful, and I don't think there's anything better than that.

(soft music continues) (metal clinking) (tool scraping)