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Custom Blacksmithing Services
Hand Forged Wrought Iron Gates
Iron Railings · Fireplace Screens & Tools
Hand Forged Door Hardware · Iron Lighting
Custom Iron Furniture · Custom Wine Racks
Forged Iron Pot Racks · Architectural Iron Work
Site Specific Iron Designs
Custom Designed Ironwork
Residential & Commercial Iron Furnishings
"Forging ahead since 1976" |
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47 N. Lobban, Buffalo, WY 82834 · Telephone: (307)
684-2338 · E-mail:
info@arrowhead-forge.com |
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David William Osmundsen’s passion is creating
functional iron forms by blending traditional blacksmithing
techniques with modern welding skill to create traditional and
contemporary designs.
In 1976 Osmundsen kindled his first forge fire in Colorado, learning
blacksmithing from Slim Spurling in exchange for working in his
shop. He then went on to teach at Skunk Hollow Forge School of
Blacksmithing in Morrison, Colorado for 12 months. |
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| In 1977 he was selected by The
National Endowment for the Arts to create hand forged iron napkin
rings for the United States Senate Wives Committee Luncheon held in
the White House by First Lady Rosalyn Carter.
Early in 1982, David was invited to be a resident
artist for one month at the Prairie School in Racine, Wisconsin.
Throughout most of the1980’s David worked as a toolsmith and
operated Arrowhead Forge in Maine creating artistic ironwork and
teaching classes in his shop. During the early 1990’s David was
employed as a gunsmith and custom shotgun maker for Bittersweet Gunsmithing and Kolar Arms in and around Racine, Wisconsin. In 1994
he moved to Buffalo, Wyoming and reopened Arrowhead Forge. |
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David has made reproductions of 19th
century tools, displayed at the Fort Vancouver National Historic
Site in Washington for the National Park Service and has created
iron work that has been displayed at several galleries across the
nation including The Renwick Gallery in Washington D.C., the Museum
of Contempory Crafts in New York, The John Kohler Art Center in
Wisconsin and The Craft and Folk Art Museum in California. For three
years, 2004 through 2006 he was selected to exhibit his work of
functional iron art at the Western Design Conference in Cody,
Wyoming. He has accepted commissions from as far away as Australia
and Africa. |
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| Since moving to Wyoming, David has been enjoying
making his mark in the west by creating gates, railings, pot racks,
fireplace tools, fire screens, cabinet hardware and business signs
for people who appreciate forged iron art and sharing this art form
with the public through demonstrations and workshops. |
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"Catalogs are for manufacturers that make
products of the same design over and over. Portfolios are for artists that approach
each piece that they create as an indivdual work of art. I have no catalog, so this web
site is my portfolio."
"My goal is not to duplicate nature but to borrow designs
from the environment and create functional iron objects using those designs."
"Though most of my tools and equipment were made prior to
1915 and my shop reflects that atmosphere, I do not pretend to be a traditional
blacksmith, but I consider myself a 21st century artist-blacksmith playing a small part in
preserving some of the skills of one of America's oldest traditional trades." |
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Historic Location -
David
Osmundsen lives in a small town, Buffalo Wyoming at the base of the Bighorn
Mountains. His 1890’s home was originally owned by a blacksmithing family and
his 900 square foot shop, next to the house was built on the site where they did some of
their work shoeing horses and repairing carriages. Visitors are welcome but as
Osmundsen works alone, the sign on the door reads, “OPEN BY CHANCE OR
APPOINTMENT”. |
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