PO Box 1045
Salida, Colorado 81201
719-539-5499
FAX 719-539-6507
hammernfire@gmail.com

About Harry and Nicole's Work

Working with metal has been in our family for generations. Harry’s grandfather was a welder in the shipyards during World War II, and his father is a welder and fabricator. Growing up in a rural setting with 5 siblings and limited resources he and his father often made and modified tools and household items themselves. And my mother and father are both award winning designers and jewelers. When I was growing up, our retail store was attached to our home, and my mother literally rocked me with her foot while working at her bench. Then later, I remember coming home from school and sitting behind the counter, watching for hours.

Now Harry and I are in some ways passing on our childhood's: our children are growing up in the studio. They have there own sets of safety glasses and hearing protection, and their own wire and pliers and hammers so they can work while we are. Hammers being the toy of choice. In addition our designs and work styles have evolved since the children were born. Since we work for shorter periods we design objects that are less time-consuming; this way we get the gratification of completion.

The steel that we use is from reclaimed utilitarian items, so we make a day of going to the scrap yard and roaming around looking for likely material to modify. Responding to an object that already exists it relieves some of the pressure of design and keeps the work simple and spontaneous. forging this found metal is the most interesting part of the process. Beginning with an unknown alloy we have to experiment, see how it responds; we take advantage of cracks and textures and its individual working properties. We both find it great fun to discover the shapes that will evolve from the different pieces of scrap we work.