The Forge

Within minutes of visiting artist / blacksmith Lonnie Alverson’s rustic blacksmith shop, you can sense the passion he has for turning a bar of metal into a work of art. He fires up the forge with fresh coal, which with heat, becomes a product called “coke”. This fuel is able to produce the heat to melt bars of iron, which then become pliable, and that’s when the magic begins. Where we may just see a bar of red hot metal, Lonnie will picture a bird, a flower or a beautiful garden gate. Watching Lonnie turn that bar of iron into a beautiful leaf takes only minutes of heating and hammering.

“Blacksmithing is a ancient craft that has had a revival since the 1960’s. You can take a cold, lifeless bar of metal and with heat, hammer and anvil, forge it into a beautiful architectural design that can enhance your living space”. Blacksmiths work with black metals, typically iron. The black color comes from fire scale, a layer of oxides that forms on the surface of the metal during heating. The term ‘smith’ originates from the word ‘smite’, which means ‘to hit’. Thus, a blacksmith is a person who smites black metal.

Lonnie owns and operates “On The Anvil Forge” in Cleveland, SC and belongs to the Philip Simmions Artist Blacksmith Guild. Having studied under several of the country’s leading blacksmiths; i.e. Ivan Bailey, Peter Ross, Gavin Harris, Clay Spencer, Jerry Darnell, Pete Brandenburg, Elmer Rouch & Robert S. Jordan at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, Lonnie is currently learning from a true master; Alan Rogers of Atlanta, GA, creating beautiful, one of a kind entry gates.

Lonnie takes the inspiration he receives from the beautiful and diverse South Carolina Upstate and creates his hand-forged ironwork in both traditional and contemporary styles. He feels, and rightly so, that “incorporating the organic surroundings of the area in the ironwork I am working on, helps to highlight the beautiful homes of the Upstate with unique, long lasting, hand forged ironwork”. Upstate South Carolina's informative magazine; Discover Upstate South Carolina has published an article about Lonnie and his art in the March 2008 issue. This article can be viewed online at the Discover website, Upstate Info / Art.

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