Blacksmither Radio

For today’s show, I talk with Alan Dawson from the UK, he’s an artist blacksmith who has worked in art and architectural metalwork for over 35 years. Alan Dawson Associates have produced innovative, high quality, bespoke metalworks for all types of projects and he’s one of the founding members of BABA, the British Artist Blacksmith Association.  He’s also one of the core group of members that is organizing the Ypres 2016 International event in Belgium.  The event is a 100-year memorial commemorating all who have been affected by WW1, a 23 ft tall cenotaph surrounded by 2016 poppies and 25 panels depicting the trenches will be erected next to a German war cemetery in Belgium.  The 25 panels will be made onsite over a 6 day period by 25 Masters who will have a team of six blacksmiths each.  Alan has designed a panel in memory of a particular story from WW1 which is about the Jones brothers and he’s also made 40 poppies for the event.  We talk about the logistics it takes to pull off such a large event and about