The Iron Brush

The metal artist Ford Hallam sparked an interest in traditional Japanese metal crafting within me. His work is at a master level and is recognised by the Japanese authorities as such. My first encounter was on Vimeo with this video. What impressed me is the absolutely traditional approach without power tools and modern abrasives absent.

Tsuba or sword guard

The subleties of patina

Delicate carving 

Casually amazing inlay technique

The underlying ethos in Japanese carving is to see the chisels as an Iron Brush. To replicate the delicacy of ink and paper drawings in metal.

Different metals and alloys are used for their patination properties. Inlays, overlays, glazes, amalgam gilding and careful control of patina are all used to create pieces which can be studied at length and continue to fascinate.

You can see more of Ford Hallam's work here.