Artist Blacksmith - Greg Auchard

Artist Biography

In the summer of 1988, Greg graduated from Oklahoma Horseshoeing School proficient in forging and fitting horseshoes from raw bar stock. A process which requires the ability to see in one’s mind a finished product and produce it with only mental references because measurements on red-hot steel are not practical. Any markings on the steel tend to disappear in

the glowing material’s surface. As a result, Greg has developed an ability to measure mentally, a “calibrated eyeball” if you will. This ability lends itself very well to artistic endeavors.

Armed with his newly acquired, “calibrated eyeballs,” he became enraptured with forge work and less so with shoeing. Greg developed general skills of traditional blacksmithing and metalwork including welding and light fabrication.

View more of
Greg's Work

At the forge, with fire and the force of hammer, he creates flowing forms from linear raw materials and in the process expresses his vision of the rhythms and cycles that surround and direct life in all forms. Greg’s quest with each hammer blow, every curve and scroll, is to coax into existence a symbolic representation of the interplay of contrasting elements that represent the continually

evolving organism called life. By embracing opposites, he joins elements that become greater in union than they were when left unopposed and galvanizes a dynamic response within the soul of the viewer.

Through blacksmithing, Greg continues to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for the yin and yang that works in our world. He tries not to see opposites but to seek out the dynamic relationships between opposites and allow them to play together in the art that he creates.

Greg has exhibited at the Mansfield Art Center, and together with his wife Sarah, owns and operates Great Circle Forge. He continues to design and create custom wrought iron furnishings and sculpture at his forge in Bellville, OH. He also works as a paramedic for Delaware County EMS.

Greg and Sarah spend as much time as possible with their three children Nicholas, Audrey, and Amelia, their cats, Smokey, and M&M, dogs, Sasha and Gunner, and horses, Bo, and Sabre. Please contact us to discuss opportunities to commission Greg to design your custom piece.

Click here to view more of Greg's work