I am a blacksmith trained in the time-honoured methods of the smith and have been practising the craft for over 50 years. I began to work in a country forge in Culverden, which is located in the north of Canterbury, New Zealand. I served a formal apprenticeship which lasted for 10,000 hours under the mastercraftsman Robert Smith, a Scotsman born in 1887 who died in 1980. The work that we did then was both agricultural engineering and farrier work with a bit of gate and grill work as well.

After completing my apprenticeship I established my own business in Christchurch. I made my name as a skilled practitioner of the ancient art of the Smith. My work can be seen in places over the world including the Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis TN, USA and locally the garden at Ohinetahi belonging to architect Sir Miles Warren.

I have created large scale public works in collaboration with other New Zealand artists and exhibited and taught the craft of the blacksmith in other countries. I was an executive member of the New Zealand Crafts Council in its most active days and have been the recipient of two travel awards from the New Zealand Arts Council.

As the founding president of A.B.A.N.Z. which has strong links to A.B.A.N.A. I have worked closely with many American and European smiths throughout my career. I have attended many international conferences in the USA and the UK of blacksmiths, the most recent one in Flagstaff, Arizona in 2001.

I continue to exhibit regularly in individual and group shows. I design and make domestic pieces such as gates, fire places, fire irons, skillets and a range of beautiful practical pieces. You can have a look at some of them in the gallery.