MacDonald Forge+Design

🎃 HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 🎃 . . . #blacksmithing #halloween #blackwidow #hailsatan #witches #ghouls #goblins #ghosts #allhallowseve #pagan #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVsfTPTrKlP/?utm_medium=tumblr

We Make Penland Mystical! The clock is ticking, Donate today before midnight - link in my bio . . . #blacksmithing #wemakepenland #penlandschoolofcrafts #penlandiron #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVOgc5cllXP/?utm_medium=tumblr

What Friday is it?? ❎ Freaky Friday ❎ Forgetful Friday ☑️ FLATTOP FRIDAY!!!! . . . #blacksmithing #flattopfriday #flattophaircut #oldschoolbarber #diy #practicemakesperfect #handcrafted #steadyhands #backyardbarber #motivated #squaredaway #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUyGKF5LH7J/?utm_medium=tumblr

Stoked about today's find at @uncommonmarketasheville. This is a Desmond No1 Huntington Grindstone Dressing Tool. It is used to clean up (i.e. "Dress") worn and uneven shop/studio grindstones. . . #blacksmithing #benchgrinder #dressingtool #toolsfortools #huntingtoncutter #desmondtools #fleamarket #pickers #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUTHKDMre5f/?utm_medium=tumblr

*****AUDIO ON****** Funny Blacksmithing Terminology: "UPSETTING" Used in a sentence: When blacksmith Charley returned home from his job at the forge, the children found his grimy boots and smoky odor UPSETTING. . . #blacksmithing #blacksmithhumor #technicalterms #upsetting #forging #anvil #penlandirony #faerie #makers (at Penland School of Crafts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CULFhIfl3Ac/?utm_medium=tumblr

So cool to be the Studio Assistant for Elizabeth Brim's Beginning Blacksmithing class at Penland School of Crafts this week. . . . #blacksmithing #penlandiron #penlandschoolofcrafts #elizabethbrim #powerofthepearls #nationaltreasure #badassery #faerie #magick #makers (at Penland School of Crafts) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUG5PaPrIs8/?utm_medium=tumblr

Very shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, a good friend and former Marine came by our place in Downtown Atlanta. Steve @peglegstudio had with him a HUGE American Flag and we soon set about figuring how to rig it to the west facade of our building which at the time served as my psychotherapy offices, my blacksmith studio and our private residence. Today the building is home to @staplehouse Market. As I recall, the flag remained there for months as America and the rest of the world began to reckon with the unfathomable traumas wrought that day.* From today's vantage point I can recall my inner stirrings to "DO SOMETHING!" in an effort to connect, to mark the moment and to try to make some sense of something so enormous and overwhelming. For a brief while we came together (somewhat), treated one another a bit more kindly (mostly). In the stark shared horror of those days there were some fleeting promises of hope. Those days are now long past and so many of the opportunities created in that tragedy were squandered by the careless while others were exploited by the self-serving. In recent years I've felt that familiar inner stirring crying "DO SOMETHING!" I'm doing my best to listen for that signal buried in all the noise. *I know 9/11 is but one punctuation point in the long and unending history of humankind's capacity to visit cruelty upon itself. . . . #blacksmithing #9/11/01 #storyteller #hurtpeoplehurtpeople #trauma #ptsd #healing #terrorism #loveistheanswer #atlanta #faerie #maker (at STAPLEHOUSE) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTsY8Udrnev/?utm_medium=tumblr

Sunday's Spectacular Shroom Spread fruiting in the local woods of the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge. . . . #blacksmithing #ideasfromnature #mycology #fungi #mycelium #mushroomsofinstagram #fantasticfungi #paulstamets #forestfloor #conservingcarolina #hickorynutgorge #foraging #appalachianmountains #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTcwHlNro4y/?utm_medium=tumblr

Go ahead, play with your food! . . . #blacksmithing #playwithyourfood #redonion #cuttingboard #faces #monalisasmile #facialpareidolia #play #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTI6fCDrUb-/?utm_medium=tumblr

Well head cover needed a little curious Bear Repair. . . . #blacksmith #ursusamericanus #blackbear #🐻 #fakerock #nosyneighbor #hickorynutgorge #mountainlife #conservingcarolina #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTIQeOlrH3D/?utm_medium=tumblr

Mountain Runoff from Tropical Storm Fred. This is flowing across an area where we abutt Conserving Carolina's land near the Wildcat Rock Trail. This flow is typically a trickle or less. . . . #blacksmithing #tropicalstormfred #hurricaneseason #climatechange #roadwork #damagecontrol #upperhickorynutgorge #conservingcarolina #mountainlife #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSwZ0pMLkAy/?utm_medium=tumblr

The waning of the Milkweed blooms. I'm savoring the last of these fragrant beauties. . . . #blacksmithing #milkweed #asclepias #monarchbutterfly #danausplexippus #butterfly #catepillar #migration #hickorynutgorge #pollinators #wildflowers #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSr2TWiLMYx/?utm_medium=tumblr

Today's little gift fruiting in the woods of the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge. . . . #blacksmithing #ideasfromnature #mycology #fungi #mycelium #mushroomsofinstagram #fantasticfungi #forestfloor #conservingcarolina #hickorynutgorge #foraging #appalachianmountains #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSkarD5L8pJ/?utm_medium=tumblr

Fantastic Fungi fruiting in the local woods of the Upper Hickory Nut Gorge. . . . #blacksmithing #ideasfromnature #mycology #fungi #mycelium #mushroomsofinstagram #fantasticfungi #paulstamets #forestfloor #conservingcarolina #hickorynutgorge #foraging #appalachianmountains #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSVYkuULn5e/?utm_medium=tumblr

Monotropa hypopitys, the so-called Dutchman's pipe, false beech-drops, pinesap, or yellow bird's-nest. This plant resembles the Ghost-Pipe plant both contain no chlorophyll. . . #blacksmithing #dutchmanspipe #monotropahypopitys #forestfloor #hickorynutgorge #conservingcarolina #hiking #ideasfromnature #karlblossfeldt #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSVSja3Lzhh/?utm_medium=tumblr

Flattop Friday contest with one of my anvils. . . . #blacksmithing #anvil #flattopfriday #flattophaircut #oldschoolbarber #diy #practicemakesperfect #handcrafted #steadyhands #backyardbarber #motivated #squaredaway #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSPd2RlLXcS/?utm_medium=tumblr

Lilium michauxii: The Carolina Lily This trio has been thwarted in its attempts to bloom for many years. 2021 is the year!! . . . #blacksmithing #carolinalily #liliummichauxii #lilies #wildflowers #hickorynutgorge #mountainlife #conservingcarolina #faerie #maker (at Gerton Helipad) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSGBV8FrotH/?utm_medium=tumblr