I grew up like some people my age probably spending time outside running around playing games and pretending a stick was a sword and getting lost in a fantasy world of make believe, and sometimes that’s all I had. With me being autistic I’ve always had the desire to learn what makes things work and to take things apart and most of the time put them back together, but I also always had the drive to make things, sometimes out of very little and that has had made me be resourceful later on in life. One thing that caught my eye was how a blacksmith with little resources in medieval times could make and shape metal into a beautiful sword, and so I’ve always wanted to do that as well. Blacksmithing was almost a lost art to me, but thankfully i was able to learn and pick up the craft. As I dove deeper into the world of working with metal a whole new world was open to me and realized that a blacksmith is so much more than someone who makes swords. I’ve been fortunate to be able to put money into what I needed to get started and begin learning hands on. I’ve come a long way and learned a lot, but I have so much more to learn and to grow as a blacksmith. Perhaps the greatest part about my journey so far is not that I have the opportunity to work with metal but that I get to make something that someone wants to buy and they get to enjoy it and appreciate what I made. I love what I get to do and I plan on growing and turn this into a real way of life for me, and hopefully I'll have a little something everyone can enjoy!