As I stare into the flames, my mind is visualizing
the expressions of the molten metal, which will be created with blows
from my hammer.
The transformation from flat sheets of steel to a sculpture are brought
to life in an inferno of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Dennis W.
Bernhardt
About Dennis...
I was born and raised in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, New York.
In my career before moving to Florida I worked with metal shaping, welding,
and designing
for a major corporation in New York. Attending a school for blacksmiths
at Peters Valley Craft Education Center in northwestern New Jersey brought
out additional
forms and expressions in my work. I now reside in St. Augustine, Florida
where I am a practicing sculptor-blacksmith.
With 32 years
of experience working with steel, I have found the best creative
way of forming steel is to heat it on a coal-fired forge and then
hammer the steel by hand.
All my sculptures are one of a kind and are not cast. An idea will come to my
mind, I will think about the size and weight of it, the expression on the face
or the free flowing plant leaf of a fern. Forming these sculptures with a different
weight of each hammer blow can bring about the texture, softness and life-like
appearance of each finished piece...
complete story
"Staghorn
Fern" 66" height x 44" length x 36" width