The craft of blacksmithing—a centuries-old functional art form—has served Northwestern coastal communities for more than a century. Early day blacksmiths repaired and created innovative tools and equipment to the benefit of early local manufacturing, logging, and fishing industries.

Darryl Nelson of Eatonville, WA is a master blacksmith who has been forging incredibly artistic, yet functional metal work for several decades. Darryl is well known in the blacksmith world for his ability to shape finely detailed animal heads out of metal.

As part of the CWCT’s Washington State Heritage Arts Apprenticeship Program, Darryl is teaching the tradition to Clayton Tupper of Ocean Shores, an enthusiastic learner and fast rising star. Clayton has his own blacksmith shop in Ocean Shores (Lone Tree Forge) and has become a board member of the NorthWest Blacksmith Association, an organization that Darryl co-founded.