Meet Jake James, a Westshore blacksmith

The ground shakes with every hammer blow as the red hot steel warps and stretches under the massive 1929 power hammer. The five feet of concrete below the hammer thumps again and again as blacksmith Jake James takes a narrow piece of steel and slowly moulds it like plasticine into an organic, twirling, sculpture-like object.

Tucked at the bottom of a dead end road in rural Metchosin, the workshop and forge could have easily been pulled from the early 20th century, or (with a few power tools and hammers removed) plucked from the early 12th. Not much has changed in the art and industry of blacksmithing since the turn of the first millennium, and besides the introduction of power hammers, propane forges, and some of the conveniences of the modern world; the techniques, tools, and artistry, remain remarkably similar.

Trained in his home country of England, at one of the few formal blacksmithing schools in the world, James then traveled overseas to continue developing his skills.

“I did some blacksmithing in Sri Lanka, silver smithing in India, and then ended up here.” Working in the same space on the Westshore for the past 18 years, James has forged a niche around the Island and Western Canada.

“There haven’t been that many blacksmiths doing what I consider the higher end iron working… it never really took off here… [I] do mostly architectural work, railings, gates, fireplaces, lighting, all custom made and custom designed. And then I do sculptural when I can. In a dream world where people pay me lots of money to do that, I would do that all day long.”

With no formal place to train and learn in Canada, James works hard to pass on his 25 years of smithing skills and knowledge. Teaching classes throughout the year at his workshop, as well as running collaborative sculpture workshops around North America.

Watching as the steel is heated, and shaped, and heated again; it is easy to get lost in the process.

“With blacksmithing, it’s like you beat the life into something,” says James. A simple, utilitarian material is formed into something that can stand the test of time. Which also drives at the longevity of blacksmithing.

“We all got used to this disposable culture, and in the last few years… people are looking around their houses… [and] starting to think more with their wallets and how they can support local and what might last them an entire lifetime,” explains James. “People are thinking ‘Why would I pay for something that is not going to last?’”