DAVID OSMUNDSEN
Blacksmith
Growing up in rural Wisconsin David developed a love of old tools and the way they were used. This included the material culture of the native peoples as well as the pioneers and settlers of the Great Lakes Region.
After completing the gunsmithing course at Colorado School of Trades in 1976, David spent a year with Slim Spurling at Skunk Hollow Forge in Colorado learning the fundamental skills of blacksmithing. It was there that he developed a knack for teaching others how to shape hot iron.
He moved on to Maine 1978 and spent most of the 1980s working for Bicknell Mfg. Co. as an industrial blacksmith and operating his own shop part time.
Moving back to Wisconsin in the late 80s, David worked as a gunsmith for Kolar Arms and Bittersweet Gunsmithing until making a move to Wyoming in the mid 1990s. After many requests from folks to be his apprentice David realized his calling was not in making grandiose architectural iron works but rather in teaching others the fine art of blacksmithing.
Some of David’s accomplishments include work for The White House, National Park Service, National Forest Service and many local museums, churches and private residences. He has displayed items at the Renwick Gallery, Washington,D.C., Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, The John Kohler Art Center, Wisconsin and The Western Design Conference, Cody, Wyoming. David is a certified instructor regionally for the Northern Rockies Blacksmith Association and on a national level for the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America. He is also recognized as a folk art and traditional arts demonstrator by the Wyoming Arts Council.
After completing the gunsmithing course at Colorado School of Trades in 1976, David spent a year with Slim Spurling at Skunk Hollow Forge in Colorado learning the fundamental skills of blacksmithing. It was there that he developed a knack for teaching others how to shape hot iron.
He moved on to Maine 1978 and spent most of the 1980s working for Bicknell Mfg. Co. as an industrial blacksmith and operating his own shop part time.
Moving back to Wisconsin in the late 80s, David worked as a gunsmith for Kolar Arms and Bittersweet Gunsmithing until making a move to Wyoming in the mid 1990s. After many requests from folks to be his apprentice David realized his calling was not in making grandiose architectural iron works but rather in teaching others the fine art of blacksmithing.
Some of David’s accomplishments include work for The White House, National Park Service, National Forest Service and many local museums, churches and private residences. He has displayed items at the Renwick Gallery, Washington,D.C., Museum of Contemporary Crafts, New York, The John Kohler Art Center, Wisconsin and The Western Design Conference, Cody, Wyoming. David is a certified instructor regionally for the Northern Rockies Blacksmith Association and on a national level for the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America. He is also recognized as a folk art and traditional arts demonstrator by the Wyoming Arts Council.