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Graham
Chaplin: Into the Dragon's Den
Green Pebble Spring 2008 issue
Step
into Stowmarket’s Ironoak Forge and hold your breath, for there, surrounded
by some of the most ancient tools still used by modern man, you will probably
be greeted by a giant apparition or two. A partially completed elf balancing
on a cart wheel, perhaps? Or an enormous and impressively muscular other-worldly
creature. Or, for something a little different, an abstract sculpture finessed
from fine lines of steel, wire, copper and iron.
When it comes to iron art, owner Graham Chaplin is brimming with ideas.
One of his works, a life-size sculpture of a wizard and dragon, was voted
Best of Show at the ‘Fellowship Through Iron Conference’ in Shropshire
in July 2007. This vote was not only a welcome accolade for Graham but it
helped to cement a new direction in his life that holds much promise –
that of mentor to an assistant.
In an age when apprentices are few, Graham has taken friend and fellow art
lover Lee Patterson under his proverbial wing and has started to teach him
how to forge steel. A specialist in restoring listed buildings, Lee has always
been a great admirer of Graham’s skills but it wasn’t until he
spotted an opportunity to create a metal garden sculpture for a client that
he and Graham joined forces on a project.
The end result: a 7-foot Merlin protected by a dragon that shimmers under
the weight of no fewer than 2800 scales.
Ironsmith Graham Chaplin was born into the world of hammers, anvils and red-hot
metal. His father was an agricultural engineer and by the time Graham was
14 he had his own forge and anvil. His idea of after-school fun was to have
friends over for an iron bashing session. During this ‘play time’
they produced beautiful little scrolls, leaves and statuettes; each a treasure.
Today, says Graham, he still gains great pleasure from encouraging people
to roll up their sleeves and have a try. He marvels at how the body language
changes as these men and women discover that after years of sitting at a computer
they still have the inherent ability to change iron into art. The process
of standing before a hot fire and making sparks fly taps into our primeval
core, he believes; and there is something spiritually beneficial about creating
art from fire.
‘It’s your chance to shape something, to return to your roots,’
Graham says. ‘You get an old bolt and shove it in the fire, get it red
hot and then blitz it with a big hammer. It’s amazing.’...
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