My journey began in the faill of 2008 when I transferrred to the Hartford Art School in West Hartford, Connecticut. A few months into my first semester I joined the Sculpture club on campus under the guidance of shop technition, Jimmy Rhea. My first meeting in the sculpture club would forever change my life. Jimmy introduced me to eveyone and asked me if I had done any blacksmithing before. Prior to this my blacksmithing skills were limited to fooling around in my grandfather's basement with a old kerosine torch, some scrap steel, and a very old ball pein hammer. So without any furthur instuction Jimmy said find a hammer you like, heat up some metal until it's an orange color and hit it! As soon as I removed the hot steel from the forge and took my first hammer strike I was undoughtbly hooked. In that very moment I knew I would be following this path for the rest of my life. Jimmy Rhea soon became my mentor and dear friend. 

 

Jimmy showed me the door and I ran through it, I spent countless hours reasearching and experimenting with found materials to better my skills as an artist/craftsman. Finally after spending three years at Hartford Art School, I graduated with a Bachlors in Fine Arts, majoring in Drawing. I moved back home to Stamford, CT and began building my shop from the ground up in my garage. Between working part-time and trying to figure out how I was going to start my business, I collected various books on knife making, general ornamental forging, tool making, and chemistry books on steel. 

 

I have continued my craft and as of August of 2013 I offically opened the doors to Thunder Hill Forge,LLC. I have come to specialize in custom handcrafted knives for your outdoorsmen,  chef, and knife collector along with ornamental blacksmithing. I have started to explore other metalsmithing projects such as jewelery design, and home decor.