Heather McLarty started out in making props for theatre, travelling round and living all over North America before a combination of dogged determination and serendipity landed her in the craft of blacksmithing.
She is now a highly skilled smith who also believes that the craft is about much more than just making stuff - describing her work as ‘transforming industrial materials into soulful sculpture using fire, anvil and hammers, mind, body and heart’ and insisting that all work has to ‘make someone’s life better.’
In this conversation we talk about her journey through the craft and what she’s learned along the way including how to go all in on your gut, doing great things with very little kit, what it means to live life as a work of art and what smacking bits of metal tells us about our shared humanity.
We also explore what it’s like to be a woman in a craft that’s often dominated by men, how that can sometimes be an advantage, and what makes it more possible (and more difficult) for underrepresented people to feel comfortable and confident.
You can find out more about Heather’s work and the projects she’s involved in here:
If you enjoy this episode, you might also enjoy my conversation with Joy Fire
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