By Tine Roycroft

Working in temperatures that reach up to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit, blacksmiths in the 19th century faced the fire each day to create vehicle parts, cooking and fireplace tools, and custom iron and steel work that was in high demand.  In front of the blaze, they worked away, sweating through the flames and creating gorgeous, handmade pieces.  Back then, in early New England, blacksmithing was considered a gentleman’s job.

Fast forward to 2011, when artist Julie Carlson, 28, stepped up to the forge.

“I love the fire and being able to form something with my own hands and my own strength,” Carlson says.  “The instructors and the students at Sturbridge [Village] have been really supportive and being a blacksmith is certainly one direction I’d like to head in. I haven’t worked on any big projects yet ~ just tools.  And I just joined the New England Blacksmith Association.”

Carlson’s talents don’t stop at blacksmithing.  In fact, they don’t stop at all. And trying to fit all of her artistic pursuits into her life can sometimes be a challenge.  She’s forever creating ~ be it with metal, paint, wood or clay.  And her artistic journey started with the complete support of her mother and may have been helped along by a sketch of a sneaker.

“I have an early memory of seeing my brother’s drawing of a sneaker and thinking, ‘If he can do it, I can do it!’  I really idolized my brother growing up and I started sketching animals in pencil when I was nine.”

Over the years, Carlson immersed herself in art.  She would find random objects around the house, like scraps of wood, and, using hammer and nails, make unique creations, including a personalized mailbox for her mother and a throne for herself.

She began taking formal art classes in high school. She tried drawing and painting, learned about art history, did pottery, and studied photography using a 35mm camera.  The Spencer resident went on to study at the Worcester Center for Crafts, where she took courses in drawing, Photoshop, sculpting and watercolor.  Most recently, she studied jewelry-making at the Worcester Center for Crafts and oil painting at the Woodstock School of Art in New York.

One can only hope that Carlson has found time to sleep every so often, but with the boundless energy and curiosity that this artist has, we cannot be sure!  Yet, there have been moments in her life, she insists, that Carlson did try to narrow down her interests.

“There was a time in my life when I told myself, ‘You can paint, so you’re going to be a painter.’  And I think I tried to focus on painting, but then I’d start daydreaming about working with metal and making jewelry.  And so I stopped forcing myself to paint and told myself to move on and take a jewelry making class,” Carlson says.  “Life is too short!”

Perhaps Carlson is living for the present, but she’s also thinking about the future.  With a degree in Biology from Worcester State College, Carlson is now studying Dental Laboratory Technology at Middlesex Community College.  In this field, she’ll use her artistic skills and knowledge of mold-making to make crowns, bridges and other dental prosthetics.  And this blacksmith/painter/photographer/jewelry maker/carpenter couldn’t be happier.

“I could see myself having my own dental lab and also doing the jewelry on the side,” Carlson hopes.  “I’d like to get deeper into jewelry.  And surprisingly, the two overlap.  If I had the supplies to make teeth, I’d have the supplies to make jewelry.”

To see some of Julie Carlson’s work and catch up on her adventures, go to carlsononthemap.blogspot.com.