{"id":1710,"date":"2009-10-08T17:30:44","date_gmt":"2009-10-08T22:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=1710"},"modified":"2009-10-08T17:30:44","modified_gmt":"2009-10-08T22:30:44","slug":"fire-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/2009\/10\/08\/fire-steel\/","title":{"rendered":"Fire & Steel"},"content":{"rendered":"

ACC Professor Preserves the Art of Blacksmithing<\/strong><\/big><\/p>\n

\"William<\/a><\/p>\n

William Bastas - ACC Welding Professor<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

William Bastas grew up in a welding shop, but his father wanted his son to be something better, a salesman perhaps. Instead of sales, Bastas followed in his father\u2019s footsteps and fashioned his career into one that provides opportunity to others and preserves a historic art form.<\/p>\n

The Austin Community College professor mastered the centuries-old skills used by blacksmiths and used those skills to transform the college\u2019s Metalsmith Program into one of only two college-credit smithing programs of its type in the United States. Students now come to ACC from across Central Texas to learn the ancient metal craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe smithing program includes traditional forging and power hammer as well as classes in hardware, toolmaking, sculptural forging, and furniture making,\u201d says Bastas, who joined ACC\u2019s faculty in 1992. \u201cStudents can study the history, tradition, and techniques that give access to the beauty of an artistic heritage that extends 6,000 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1984, Bastas was following his father\u2019s wishes. He was enrolled at UT-Austin and trying different majors until a 2,400-mile detour led him back to his father\u2019s welding shop. Bastas took off a summer to bike through Greece, Italy, Spain, and France and found himself photographing less of the monuments and more of the beautiful ironwork in gates, grilles, window lights, stairways, and entrances.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing ironwork firsthand in Europe cemented my aspiration toward a career in metalsmithing,\u201d Bastas says. \u201cI admire the tradesmen and craftsmen because there is great humility of people who work with their hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bastas returned with a clearer focus. He re-enrolled at UT and earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in Spanish, with a minor in fine arts metals. He transferred to Austin Community College to improve his welding skills, and the college later hired him.<\/p>\n

Today, Bastas specializes in functional art, with pieces that include wall brackets, fireplace screens, gates, furniture, and railing. He teaches the skills in the Welding Department\u2019s metalsmith classes, which are open to all students but can be taken as part of the art metals associate degree and certificate.<\/p>\n

\u201c \u2018By hammer and hand, all crafts do stand\u2019 is an old adage that describes the pivotal position the blacksmith held in the community as maker of tools, hardware, and iron artifacts,\u201d Bastas says. \u201cThe torch has been passed to artist craftsman to produce finely wrought ironwork and sculpture.\u201d\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As an artist, Bastas draws upon the world of art nouveau, modeling most of his work after things organic, especially floral and plant-inspired motifs. Shaping a material that seems so rigid into a rose is powerful to watch. In keeping with the art nouveau style, he hammers hot steel into fluid, curvilinear shapes that turn into functional items like gates and decorative wall brackets.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of my inspiration comes from nature and flowers,\u201d he says. \u201cBut, historically I am inspired by artists like Gaud\u00ed, Mazzucotelli, and Albert Paley.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bastas also forges custom hammers \u2013 he is only one of six in the United States to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone once told me that if you don\u2019t make your own tools, you are half a smith. I make hammers for other blacksmiths. I don\u2019t really advertise, but my name is spread by word-of-mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n

A professor for 17 years, Bastas starts each semester by creating a design for students to create in their class. It features the techniques they will learn and, if all goes well, results in a completed artwork. \u201cSometimes I have to resuscitate their projects from the dead, but for the most part I let them learn from their mistakes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Bastas\u2019 metalsmith students are a diverse group. One recent class included a displaced worker seeking a new career, a retiree wanting simply to create artwork, and an oilfield worker advancing his welding skills.<\/p>\n

The work is hard, but Bastas\u2019 passion is inspirational, students say. They value his guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really knows his stuff,\u201d says Jason Wild, who studied metalsmithing last summer.<\/p>\n

Bastas and his students gather at a table at the start of each class, then move to a forge to begin the smithing process \u2013 heating steel to red-hot, then hammering it into shape. Bastas moves among the students, supervising and coaching them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWorking with steel is like playing a game of chess,\u201d he reminds a struggling student. \u201cSteel tries to beat you, so you have to always be three steps ahead,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Bastas is pleased with his chosen profession. \u201cI am proud to have developed, with the support of ACC, only one of two college credit blacksmithing programs in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

And his father?<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father is happy for me and proud to tell his friends that his son is one of the best blacksmiths in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ACC Professor Preserves the Art of Blacksmithing William Bastas grew up in a welding shop, but his father wanted his son to be something better, a salesman perhaps. Instead of sales, Bastas followed in his … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-announcements"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1710\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}