Ellis, Charlie

The Story I’ve always had an interest in how things work and how they’re made. Growing up my creativity was fueled by legos, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings. As I came into my teen years I would fill sketchbooks with worlds inspired by Tolkien’s, designing weapons and armor for fantastical races. But pencils were not enough. I wanted to learn to make it real, make it in steel. At the age of fourteen, while vacationing in Maine, my mom found a blacksmith in the newspaper who was teaching at a festival at the historic Scribner’s Mill in Harrison. There I made a fire poker, a couple of nails, and a hook, and I was hooked. That day I learned about the New England School of Metalwork and spent the next year doing yard work and odd jobs to pay for a class. The next summer we made it back up to Maine and I took a 40hr course on historical hinges with Jonathan Nedbor.