We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Timothy Wisniewski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Timothy below.

Timothy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

Years ago, I was invited to present at an art show in Beloit wisconsin. The man who invited me was someone I looked up to a lot. But I had been told by some peers that my art was weird, and troubling. Nonetheless this man loved my work and it was his show. So, I said ok. The problem was, I was just a broke punker in my 20’s. I couldn’t afford any big canvas, or high end paints. So, I literally did my art on old cardboard I found in the recycling, twenty five cent craft paint from walmart, and black, sharpie marker. I brought that to a gallery showing with hand made furniture pieces selling for seven thousand dollars, hand blown glass pieces going for who knows how much. And work done by a professional pinstriper and fine artists.

I was rather embarrassed but put my piece out regardless. People made the rounds all over the showing. There was one couple in particular who showed up about half way through the event. Very upper middle class, middle aged looking folks. A man and woman. As they made their way through the show, the man stopped at my weird cardboard art. He gasped, put one hand on his chest, and held up my piece with the other hand. And he just glared at that ratty old piece of cardboard. The woman he was with, looked at my piece, then looked away in disgust, and just kept making her way through the show. The man must have seen me watching him, and came over to me. He asked…did, did you make that? I nodded yes. Almost trembling, he then asked, what are you asking for it? Before I could reply he almost ashamedly looked back at his companion and said “she doesn’t understand what this means to me, but you do. You understand what it means. I picked the piece up from where he had laid it, and said, it’s yours. No charge.

In near disbelief, with tear in his eyes, he shakingly took it out of my hands, and held it to his chest. Once again he whispered she doesn’t understand, but you understand…thank you.

That was when I knew I not only wanted to pursue a creative artistic path, I needed to.

Timothy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

well, my name is Timothy and I own and operate Sable Fox Forge out of Carpentersville, IL.

I cut my teeth in the DIY culture of punk rock, skateboarding, and street art. Back then (90’s) there was no social media. And if you didn’t have a record deal or some kind of product sponsor….the only way to get your work known was hustling, and guerrilla marketing. We hand drew all our band’s posters, and flyers. We printed our own shirts, and patches. We recorded our own demo tapes and sponsor me videos. We handed out our gear. Made wheat paste posters, and slapped em all over town. You did everything yourself. Even down to your own clothes. If you didn’t know how, you found someone who did. You found a way, and networked face to face with other like minded people.

So, coming from that type of background…as a creative, you follow a logical course. As the internet expanded, social media communities blossomed, you took what you learned on the streets, and used the new digital tools to help propel you into new frontiers of creativity and networking.

For over a decade I was involved in mentorship programs. Just wanted to be there for young folks like me who didn’t have any direction growing up. Kind of a hey, you have to make the same mistakes I did. I grew up in a very unique environment. Even though a lot of my interests brought me into urban environments, and sort of a city life mindset…my family moved from the south side of chicago when I was around 5 or 6yrs old. sometime in the late 80’s we moved to a 24 acre farm in Northwestern IL. literally touching Wisconsin. So I spent years raising animals, tending a large garden, foraging, hunting, and trapping in the woods. Like I said. a unique environment for a city slicker.

I took those years an wanted to pour those lessons and skills back into the guys I was mentoring. We did annual camping trips into the venomous snake infested wetlands of southern IL. I had started looking into blacksmithing and bladesmithing to compliment the outdoors work I was doing with my group. Wanted to learn how to forge our own tools and use them to survive with in the wilderness. A very long story short, only one of the fifteen guys who said they wanted to do it…actually did. We built a very crude forge from an old wheelbarrow we found in the woods. Next thing I know….I’m enjoying the catharsis of hammering hot steel into shapes, art, and working tools…I just kept doing it. As my skills and abilities increased, I started getting interest in my products. On a whim I decided to present at a local festival in a neighboring town. I would do live demos of blacksmithing, talk to potential clients, and hock my wares. We sold out of nearly everything the first day. I ended up hand forging new products till about midnight that night, and forged all day at the event the next day until we sold out again.

and it’s been that way ever since. I have a small online following the grows each year with no sign of slowing down. I have work all of the united states, Japan, and soon england. I keep progressing in my skills, and techniques, and hope to become a master smith. My current focus is obtaining a space for people from all walks of life to come, and learn the history of blacksmithing, And become fully immersed in the creative process. But also provide a space for other skilled artisans to create, teach, sell…etc.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I started out like many others on their creative journey. For years attended the unaccredited, endless halls of Youtube University. Which was a great starting point from nothing. However, it became woefully apparent after sometime that separating fact from fiction, myth from foundational truth was nearly impossible there. I needed to talk with professionals in the field. I attended a class on forge welding with the Upper Midwest Blacksmith Association. which is comprised of a community of blacksmiths from all over the midwest. This community has no age limit, no set race, creed, or sex. We all share, and trade skills, tips, techniquess, conversations, and break bread together. I wish I had known about people like that when I first started. I mean, you don’t know what you don’t know I guess. so, part of my journey is sharing the Association with as many folks that are interested. Doing events with them, and adding to the community as best I can.

so, in short…community has been an invaluable resource.

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

Sheesh, I could go on for days about this. Forging is all about resilience. So…Big picture, the little picture.

I’ve done few things as cathartic, challenging, and frustrating as blacksmithing.
In its rawest element, it so closely resembles the human condition, and life’s respective course, it instils a reverence for the sacred. The collision between the creator, and the created. There have been so many times in my life, when the fires are burning around me, to the point it seems the very grain structure holding my being together is being altered. What’s inside me expands under the intense flames, and rush of hot air. Just as it becomes unbearable, I am ripped from the forge, set upon the level, face of an unmoving, immortal anvil, and hammered. With each blow, contents are either removed, relocated, or reset.
What was, becomes something else. Something that is becoming. At last, the grip, and the hammer of the master craftsman has drawn out the unseen potential. A new life. A new creation. The anvil is still the same. Its face perfect, and sure, despite innumerable blows. The hammer that hit so hard, is no longer an instrument of destructive punishment, but a tool of designation, forming the completed masterpiece. A life fully as it was intended. Formed under forge, friction, and for-knowledge
The trials you have in this life. The pain, the heartache, the tragedy, the hits, the fire…there is a process. Each process will be different. In these times, as hard as it may be…ask yourself, “What is this working out of me?” And choose to believe, that the process of pain has a purpose.

Now for the little picture:
resilience, perseverance, and being invested in the process. All of it. Present for the successes and the failures.
when I first started this journey, I started with nothing. I went old dumps in the woods to find stuff to build my first forge. I didn’t even have an anvil. No money to buy one. I was hammering hot steel on a concrete floor in my garage. Which is insanely dangerous. First anvil I could afford was an absolute piece of garbage. The steel was soft, and the shape was nearly unusable. but it’s what I had. I kept going. I kept hammering. Now, I have a full shop with everything I need to keep going, and growing. I’m learning how to make my own steels now. I spent five hours the other day putting together a container of powdered steel, and different alloys. So that when I finally get it all forged together it will make a beautiful mosaic damascus steel to be used for jewelry and high end cutlery. I forgot one step. a step I have successfully completed several times already. Five hours of work in the garbage, and a pile of unusable steel. I could quit. I could walk away, and just keep doing what I’ve been doing. what’s always worked. That’s no longer me being creative. That’s just production. The failures are just as imperative as the successes. I would say working through a failure, and learning to cope through that. Putting resilience into practice is what will catapult your perspective into proper perception leading to progress.

Contact Info:

• Website: sableFoxForge.com
• Instagram: @SableFoxForge
• Facebook: @sablefoxforge

Image Credits
all images are used with the express permission of Sable Fox Forge