Instructor Profiles
Anna Keene
Blacksmithing
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My Story...
Anna Keene, an artist blacksmith who now lives in Ypsilanti creates organic forms from materials otherwise seen is industrial. Her finished pieces mimic the shapes found in nature and often convey a flowing affect that resonates with the material in a one’s liquid state. She’s proud to carry on this work that her great, great grandmother did years ago in Tennessee. In 2000 Anna moved from Detroit to New Mexico. “It was like a landing in a new world and I was eager to soak it all in.” She began to work with a sculptor and furniture designer where she would discover the satisfaction of working with her hands and tools. After attending a handful of welding classes Anna befriended a local farrier who would become a mentor as she learned the craft a blacksmithing. “The underpinnings of my artistic inspiration are many: the vast landscapes in the people of New Mexico; where I began my studies as a blacksmith; the shapes of the plants and the twisted roots in the desert; the sustaining love and support from friends and family. From these sources, I’ve learned to see beneath surfaces, to discover the underlying layers, to be still in honor the natural objects.” In 2007 she became a mother to her son, Jasper. “ I suddenly have this amazing muse, who is very quickly offer me a new way of looking at life.”The pieces of work, and I produced in those next year’s.; hand, forged nest, cocoons, and tiny houses would tell the story of her becoming a mother. From there, she would go on to participate in art shows, and build impressive gates throughout the country. |
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Classes I Teach
Blacksmithing for Kids
Blacksmithing 101
Parent/Child Blacksmithing Workshop
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