Iron Antler Forge

In our quest to bring artifacts (and other objects) to the general public, we have retained the services of one Iron Antler Forge.

Under the guidance of master craftsman Daniel Stuart, Iron Antler Forge is handling the technical deconstruction and documentation of our finds. From there, the Forge is determining what artifacts might be of credible interest to connoisseurs of fine art as well as commercial viability.

We’re only in the first stages of our current excavation, as you can read about elsewhere on this site, but as we bring the marvelous discoveries to light, we will arrange opportunities for purchase on the part of worthy recipients.

Iron Antler Forge is currently exhibiting at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.

Daniel Stuart

Daniel Stuart started his journey of moving metal in his early 20’s when he decided to move from the 2D world of drawing into a more substantial 3D medium of metal sculpture. Using a set of old torches and a grinder borrowed from his father’s small welding business, he was able to do some basic shaping of sheet metal. He would then gas-weld those shapes together along with some found metal objects to create artistic sculptures. After learning the limitations of this process and wanting more control over the metal, he learned of a local blacksmithing guild (Blacksmith Guild of Central MD) where he was able to take a few beginner blacksmithing classes. Over the next several years he was able to take a few weekend classes from several well-known blacksmiths/instructors that visited the guild. Daniel was able to take some of the basic fundamentals he learned from those classes and apply them in ever more expanding ways. He also made it a point to visit local metal sculptors wherever he traveled and this has allowed him to visit with artists all over the world. Daniel says “I have never left another artists studio without learning something.”

Aside from a few basic classes Daniel is primarily a self-taught artist. With every piece he works on, a new technique, concept, or idea is learned. He does not like monotony and finds himself exploring new ideas on a regular basis. Whether it’s finding new ways to bring out the natural and varied colors of metal, working with other artists in different disciplines to make collaborative projects, or inventing new tools to create forms that have not been done before; Daniel is on a progressively expanding journey to deepen both the quality and complexity of his work.

In 2006 Daniel, with the encouragement of his wife Lisa, made the move from creating metalwork as a hobby to doing it as a profession and their business “Iron Antler Forge” was born. He started out displaying his art at local juried art shows in the Washington Metropolitan area. After experimenting with this outlet for a few years Daniel began to cut back on the small show circuit and started branching out to larger shows like the “American Craft Council” show in Baltimore Maryland. He also sought out local designers to create one-of-a-kind pieces for homes and offices. In that time he has created a large body of work, from small attention grabbing wall hangings and table sculptures to large functional pieces like tables, chairs, and lamps. Daniel has also been able to create large corporate art pieces that can be enjoyed by a larger audience such as a huge full bodied mirror that hangs in the lobby of the Hotel Sierra in Sterling, VA or the neon lit map of the world that is hanging in the corporate office of NAI Global in Princeton, NJ.

Daniel has gained the attention of several papers and magazines over the years and has had several articles written about his work. In 2010 Daniel was interviewed for a book titled “American Blacksmiths, In Their Own Words” where his photo hammering at the anvil made the front cover.

Daniel is committed to the quality of his work as well as the expansion of form and function of his art. Since he started on this endeavor his work has continued to generate great interest from the people viewing it. It is with a fervent joy that he continues on this path of creation and exploration.