forging fragments

an arts council funded project

forging fragments is a practice-led research project marking a continuity between printmaking and blacksmithing through the history of hand tools. it is supported by arts council england.

the project began with a simple observation: the tools i used to make prints — gouges, chisels, brayers — were themselves objects of great material history. forged by hand, worn by use, carrying the marks of their makers. i wanted to understand how to make them, not just use them.

over twelve months i am training with predominantly female blacksmiths, learning to forge replica historical tools, and documenting the process through prints, photographs, and writing. this page is the record of that work.

supported by arts council england · national lottery project grant

project blog

12 april 2026

arts council grant

Overwhelmingly happy to say that I was awarded the Arts Council NLPG grant I applied for in December!!!!

I've felt that blacksmithing is the next step for my arts practice but if you're someone like me, who does not have any spare cash... getting into blacksmithing can be really tricky. There's essentially a 3 year degree in Hereford you can take - but I can't do another degree (already have one useless one!) - the alternative is training directly with existing smiths. This grant covers a year of training with mostly female blacksmiths - but also allows me to work a bit less at my job, to spend time on this training.

More updates to follow!

03 march 2026

aluminium etching with copper sulphate

I have quite a lot of aluminium plates in my drawers from my printmaking course - so I've bought some copper sulphate and salt in order to etch them. This is far more difficult than ferric etching! What I noticed first of all was that the resists I'd been previously using (sharpie, acrylic) were eaten away by the copper sulphate.

In the end my solution was to learn how to use the vinyl cutter in the workshop downstairs from my studio, and create a sharp vinyl stencil. This worked really well for the design I wanted to etch - but I've still not managed to get an etch as deep as I want, primarily because the copper sulphate gets so hot when it's in contact with aluminium! I get a bit scared to leave it in too long in case it melts through the desk it's sitting on.

Below are the results of my first stencil etch - keen to do more, but interested in getting some more aged patinas.

15 february 2026

edinburgh etch — copper patinas

The metal etching has been great practice with another process that's in between printmaking and metalworking. Essentially, the Edinburgh etch (which just means adding citric acid to Ferric Chloride to help break up the sediment to ensure a cleaner etch) is used by folk to make more sculptural works - but it originates from the printmaking world, for etching brass, copper, bronze plates.

Copper isn't cheap so I had these scrap disks to experiment on - one of the most beautiful things is how the copper changes after the etch once you've exposed it to air. These pieces look nothing like the pictures below now - taken on the same day I etched them - they've developed a patina.

One of the surprises of using ferric chloride and floating the plate upside-down, with a higher-than-suggested proportion of citric acid, is that - in keeping with the organic forms I was attempting to create little amulets of - the way the acid bit into the plate left waves.

20 january 2026

new studio & edinburgh etch

I've recently got a new studio space in the outskirts of Manchester city centre. Definitely not a space for hot metal working, but I'm looking for ways to work with metal in this space, as it'll be a while until I can afford more blacksmithing courses - or my own forge set-up, which I'm aiming to get going.

Scrolling around on the internet I found out about Edinburgh Etch - which is a bridge between printmaking and metalworking. I've been etching plates for a while - a method of applying an acid to a plate with a resist, which leaves recessed plate areas which hold ink. This etching process is far more extreme - it's almost sculptural, which is what I've been aiming for. I want to move away from paper and into physical works that fit in your palm. The materials are arriving to my studio at the weekend.

01 december 2025

the scythe

It was raining pretty hard outside the workshop, but it's always warm in there because of the forge. Today we started on my first project that I've suggested myself - a scythe, for chopping down weeds, or ideally collecting herbs.

We started off from some scrap spring steel, so the first day was mostly straightening out and flattening this bar. After we'd finished, I was surprised how straight I'd got it!