4 regole d'oro per lavorare con ABS Guru JD Smith

Masters not only need to be able to stand alone in the circle in terms of craftsmanship, but also need to have their own ideas and methodologies. ABS guru JD Smith has distilled 4 golden rules for his work.

ABS guru Smith J.D. Smith juggles music, productions and awards

 

4 golden rules

1. Personal approach and style
2. A work of art or music should give you a sense of life, an idea from the perspective of an artist
3. Technical control
4. Endless stream of thoughts

 

J.D. Smith: Dancing in the Store

J.D. Smith and I were neighbors for three years, and since it’s a short walk, we often stroll to MassArt together, sometimes for classes and sometimes just for work.

 

Boston is a very diverse city, and before class, he would often stop to speak Russian or Spanish with various friends, before moving on to Korean with his students.

 

It’s also normal for J.D. to dance in the shop, especially when making Damascus. He believes that dance, music, the forging of Damascus and the design and production of knives are interlinked. He can use his own thoughts to control these and let his imagination switch freely in various fields with ease.

 

There is fluidity in dance, music, sculpture, and some people like to mix and co-exist with all three. J.D. can dance to music, productions and awards.

 

He was at the 2013 Oregon Knife Show, where he won four awards, and he has plenty more in his den at home. Two of the pieces are collaborations: one is a hunting knife with current ASA master MS and past apprentice Zack Jonas, and the second is with the talented Joseph Schneider (Joseph Shnayder) forged precious metal and gem-laden swords.

 

Also at the Oregon show, BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Wayne Goddard presented J.D. with his MS stamp, which I don’t think J.D. will ever forget.

 

J.D. received his MS Seal in 1998, winning along the way the B.R. Hughes Award for the best knife submitted by an MS applicant at the BLADE Show.

 

This made J.D. the first black MS, though he didn’t bother with it as he felt it was detrimental to Bladesmith. “The field should be blind to age, gender and race,” he noted. “The focus should be on the work.”

 

Develop a style

In 1991, J.D. walked into the office of Joe Wood, then head of MassArt’s sculpture department. J.D. told Joe that the school couldn’t teach the latest metals without teaching Damascus. Joe agrees and offers J.D. a guest teaching position.

 

In 1996, George Greenimire opened a general class for J.D. As a teacher, J.D will encourage students to do what he thinks they are naturally inclined to do without controlling their sense of design or encouraging them to push their limits. The goal is not to copy other people’s work, however, if you can understand what draws you to it, it will be easier for you to design your own work and hopefully develop your own style.

Pictured above is a collaboration between J.D. and Joseph Shnayder, this striking piece features J.D.’s Exploded Damascus blade, made of 1084 carbon steel and 15N20 nickel alloy steel, and measures 6 inches long. The handle is carved from black African wood with extremely fine silver work and gemstone inlay.

 

“If you have a table with 500 different knives,” he says, “someone should be able to pick out your creations easily.” When I asked him how he started developing his style, he mentioned that it was “made by A patchwork of Don Fogg, Wayne Goddard, Jimmy Fikes and Wayne Valachovic—Valachovic especially the folder—Bill McHenry and Jim Schmidt.” Over the years, Bill and J.D. became good friends, and J.D. Credit to him. Bill passed away in 2019 and was greatly missed by many in and outside the knife world.

 

Four Higher Art Principles

Over the years, J.D. has developed his four principles of high art: personal approach and style. A piece of art or music should give you a sense of life, an idea of being an artist. technical control. An endless stream of thoughts.

J.D. collaborated on this stylish Damascus straight knife with carved handle and beautiful wood sheath.

He further explained his sense of style, saying: “Style is every technique you use as part of your personal toolbox, and what you choose not to use. That equals your style. As an artist progresses, he Start limiting your options. It shows maturity. You use four or five techniques, and you develop your style through the osmosis of those techniques.”

 

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