Iron Man: Blacksmith Artist Nick Vincent is Driven to Create

Written By David Greisman

In an era of high-speed technology, mass production and big box stores, Nick Vincent is an anachronism, a man who for the better part of two decades has pounded out a living with a hands-on approach, an iron will and a fistful of steel.

For 15 years, the Uniontown blacksmith has relied on his hammer and anvil, forging creations both decorative and practical. But in molding pieces that range from furniture to functional, Vincent has cast himself as a combination artist and businessman, a man who has a hard job but loves it.

“I like the creation, and working with hot iron is like working with clay, except you can’t touch the iron,” said Vincent, 55. “It’s not for the faint of heart. And you have to have the strength to move the metal when it’s hot.”

Vincent’s first blacksmithing experience came in 1982 at a workshop in Dover, Delaware. Upon returning, he set up a forge and anvil in his backyard, intending to practice his craft.

Nine years later, Vincent left his 20-year job as an economic forecaster for the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company and became a full-time blacksmith.

“I was too busy, so something had to go,” Vincent said. “It was either quit my job or quit blacksmithing. I quit my job.

“My wife thought I might just be lounging around the house all day,” he said. She was mistaken. “I’m pretty driven. I work at least six days a week. I’ve always got something to do. I’m always behind.”

Vincent said the jobs come in through word of mouth, at craft shows and markets he attends and from visitors to his web site.

“I kind of have an odd niche in the world in that I can hand make things out of iron,” Vincent said. “Fortunately for me you can’t go to a local box store and buy what I have.”

“You can only give so much of it as Christmas presents and birthday presents,” he deadpanned. In December, Vincent completed a gift for his seven-year-old niece, a wreath decorated with metal cattails, crabs and grasses.

The wreath was similar to one that sold in December at the ninth annual Carroll County Arts Council Festival of Wreaths, a fundraiser in which more than 200 artists, businesses and groups this year made, decorated and donated wreaths for a silent auction. This year’s event raised approximately $28,000 in proceeds for the Arts Council, said Susan Williamson, visual arts coordinator for the Carroll Arts Center.

Vincent has made wreaths for the auction for eight years. His first wreath, which he bought himself, went for $500 and now hangs in his kitchen. His most recent wreath had a starting bid of $500, but it ended up bringing in $2,100 for the Arts Council.

The top bidder, Greg Harmon, is an ophthalmologist who lives in Manhattan but who also has a home in Westminster. Harmon has bought Vincent’s last three wreaths, the third being a Christmas present for his infant daughter, Sarah.

“I like all sorts of art, but I’ve always enjoyed metal work,” said Harmon. “I grew up as a kid in Westminster collecting iron banks, and I still collect them. When I discovered the wreath auction and that this particular artist worked in metal, I was attracted to it.

“He has an incredible ability to make delicate structures out of this metal – the fine details of a leaf, or a piece of grass or the feathers of a bird. I really enjoy his work, and it’s an opportunity for me to support a local organization that I think is important to Carroll County.”

The financial support that Vincent’s works generate isn’t the only reason that the Arts Council appreciates him.

“We love to get [his wreaths],” Williamson said. “There’s always an element of surprise as we wait to see what Nick is going to bring in. They’re works of art. They can be displayed year Ôround. He has a great sense of design and balance and technique, and his finished works are always masterful.”

Other creations of Vincent’s also end up as holiday purchases, but instead of being given to family and friends, the buyers often use them to hold their presents. Vincent estimates that he sells thousands of Christmas stocking hooks a year, each piece taking a couple of minutes to make.

At The Hickory Stick in Westminster, owner Sandy Scott said her store sells more than 100 of Vincent’s mantle hooks and S-hooks a year, along with various other creations.

“It’s kind of a staple,” she said. “We use the S-hooks for lots of things, even displaying things in the store. “We’re just interested in carrying his pieces and have experimented with different pieces through the years. It just amazes me that he can do something so tedious but also produce incredible works of art.”

Although Vincent’s first 20 years as a blacksmith were focused on reproducing antiques, he has since switched to items such as fireplace screens, handrails and plate stands.

“There’s nothing really that I don’t enjoy making,” Vincent said. “Or maybe I only make the things I like to make.”

Vincent continually refines his craft. He has studied under master blacksmiths and attends a couple of conferences each year where demonstrations are held. But some of Vincent’s creativity arises out of other projects or just from the process.

“Sometimes it may be some architectural part É somebody needs something structural, and then that can lead to something else,” Vincent said. “It can be an absolute total design for which I sit down and É actually lay out the whole project. Or it can be in my mind, and I work toward whatever the finished product is.”

Thus what begins as metal bars and sheets that hang on the wall of a wooden barn building situated near his house can become shutter hinges for a house being restored in the Virgin Islands, or they can form any of a number of objects inside the red brick home that he shares with Chris, his wife of 32 years.

Vincent’s workshop is the barn, called Nathan’s Forge in acknowledgement of the artist’s given name – Nathaniel – and as a continuation of Nathan’s Forest, the name that he and his wife gave to their former home in Reisterstown.

Nathan’s Forge is outfitted with a satellite radio so that Vincent can listen to Howard Stern’s talk show or rock and roll while he works. But neither music nor Vincent’s creativity are limited to the confines of the building.
Since the early Ô90s, Vincent has taken piano lessons in Westminster. Although he had played trumpet in high school and college, Vincent did not want to go through the physical conditioning needed to play after 20 years away from the instrument.

“I’ve always enjoyed music, and I’d love to be a musician. I’m just not a musician, [but] it’s still something I can enjoy” Vincent said. “I thought with piano, it would be easy because all those 88 keys are right in front of you. You just have to figure out which ones to hit at what time.”

Whether he is tickling the ivories or hammering iron, Vincent said he will always keep himself busy.
“I don’t really think there will be a time that I’m going to do nothing,” he said. “It’s a standing joke among blacksmiths that even if you were to win the lottery, you’d just keep working until the money ran out.”