We were lucky to catch up with Erica Moody recently and have shared our conversation below.

Erica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’m not sure I ever had a specific moment where I realized I wanted to pursue a creative path professionally. I believe the path I am taking came more from how I like to live more than what I want my profession to be. I grew up with parents that worked hard at full time jobs and then they would creatively experiment and teach themselves new things in their ‘free time’ creating a rich world to grow up in. They took on various homesteading projects, created art, renovated a very old house as we lived there as a young family…they always were passionate about working hard at living creatively, learning to do the things they wanted to have…fresh food, inspiring surroundings, good and fun cooking, playing music….knowing and following their dreams. I lived and breathed this as a young gal, and this was what I knew, and staying close to similar experiences as I grew into an adult kept me in the creative arts. I knew from a young age that dressing up to go work in an office was not close to any interest of mine. I never thought of being a professional metal craftsman let alone running a business with employees, but looking back it seems to make sense. I have the artistic and the practical blended into the great learning experiences of refining a craft and running a business. Being self employed also gives me the flexibility to tweak the balance of work and life to feed and inspire each other well, even if it has it’s great trials and errors along the way, it seems to be giving me the creative life that I want to lead and share with others.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I came from a fine art background in primary school and into collage, where I studied film and photography, in the pre-digital era. I took a break from college before my last year and while away, discovered the fine building trades in Boston, MA. This work and lifestyle struck a chord with me, in a way art never had. I soon found a job working with a metal fabricator assisting him in engineering and fabricating sculptures, fancy stair rails, and other complex high end projects, and learned the trade on-the-job. I moved on after several years to broaden my metalworking experience, taking blacksmithing intensives for a year, and then started my own business in 2001 doing more custom metalwork services for architects, designers, and artists. In 2016 I started to add a product line, serving utensils, that I designed and made in my studio, now located in Maine. Currently I continue to develop this line as well as take hardware commissions for door and cabinet hardware, both of my design and others.

In starting a profession in metalwork, I loved the push to excel at the craft and take on tricky commissions to really understand the material. I have learned most of what I know in the 30 years of working in this craft from engineering others’ concepts. As for more ‘formal’ training, I had only taken one 2 week workshop in the mid 90s in blacksmithing at Haystack. Only now am I starting to take weekend online classes here and there, and hope to be able to devote more time to learning from others, as it is so inspiring and supportive to be in that community. I get some of this in teaching, but I’m looking forward to being a student!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There have been many struggles along my journey in this profession of metal craftsman and business owner. One of the most difficult was a time when a family member was chronically ill, and it was emotionally and logistically exhausting and tricky to focus on the commissions, and in financial stability in general. It was 15 years into the. business and I was also burning out on the larger commission work for others. On a very dark day when I was not able to work and worrying intensely about how I can get through one more day let alone imagine a more positive future, I went in to my studio and made a spoon, which was against every fiber in my being, as it had nothing to do with making money, getting things done. This was before I was making utensils. The making of that spoon, or maybe giving myself a creative moment not tied to ‘progress’, lifted me even if just a very small bit. My little glimmer ignited the same to my ailing family, and we all made more spoons, as holiday gifts for family. I started an instagram account to share what we made, and was inspired to try serving utensils as a product line, a business development that would give me more control and flexibility than just commissions, which gave me a more healthy relationship with my life/work balance. I was energized to research and develop this new branch of the business, and it took off in a way I never expected, and is now my main work in the studio, along with the commissions of hardware.

I often look back at that pivotal time, knowing that despite the really hard moments…emotionally, financially, strategically….there is a way forward, and sometimes that involves finding doors that open you didn’t even know where there.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal with this profession is the lifestyle I can craft with it. Early on, as a tween, when I was just starting to work, I knew for certain that I didn’t want to dress up to go to work, I wanted flexibility to be creative and learn and pivot into new things that I discovered along the way. I wanted to live close to my morals, those of community, human scale living, connection with your surroundings, with nature. I wanted my work life to be an important part of my inspiration and discovery of the world. I didn’t want a separation of doing something 9-5 in order to have money to live on eves and weekends. It comes with compromise, everything does, I suppose. I don’t make much money, creativity is needed in all parts of our lives, so I try to be creative with where I live, how I live, what I do, and I work a lot. I love learning about how to continually improve and balance my craft, my business, my connections, my community, my health. It’s tricky, and I haven’t figured it all out by any means, but I do like where I am now, and I look forward to where I might end up next.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ericamoody.com
• Instagram: @ericaemoody
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ericaemoody/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericamoody-fine-metalwork/

Image Credits

Bryan Coppede: Anvil shot
Brian Fitzgerald: Flame shot
All product shots Erica Moody