November 2, 2012
By Jennifer Kresse
From left: The Knapp Family?Shannon, Birdie, Miles, and Oscar. ?photo Jennifer Kresse
Blacksmith Kent Knapp is in the business of making family heirlooms. He is the owner, designer, and chief artisan of the family?s business, Milwaukee Blacksmith, 518 E. Erie St.
Knapp is a master of functional fine art. From cleavers, pot racks, wine racks, and fireplace tools to ornate signs, fences, balconies, and gates, Knapp can create just about anything for a client. ?The limit is your imagination,? said Knapp. ?You have an idea, we can figure it out together, build it, and make it happen.? His originals are found in homes, mansions, and museums on five continents.
Oscar Knapp, who makes old-time iron nails that are highly desired by woodworkers. ?photo Jennifer Kresse
Knapp?s first love was music and as a teenager, he frequented Up And Under?s blues jam, which were run by a moonlighting blacksmith. These sessions brought out Milwaukee?s artists, including a drummer who was also a blacksmith. Knapp began hanging out at the Ornamental Iron Shop at the Cedar Creek Settlement in Cedarburg, Wis. He became a apprentice at the shop where his love for the craft was born and nurtured over the next five years.
But the he needed to spread his wings, he said. He and his wife Shannon, daughter Zoey, and son Miles, moved to New Orleans in 1996 where returned to his music. There, drawing up? his roots in blues and electric bass he said,? ?I played with everyone from Earl King to Bo Diddley [to] Cyril Neville.?
In 2004 the family returned to Milwaukee, now with two more sons, Birdie and Oscar, where Knapp resumed blacksmithing.? ?We came back to visit for the summer and Kent fell back in love with Milwaukee and wanted his children to know his parents. So we stayed,? Shannon said.
Kent Knapp?s son Birdie measures Dad?s bicep.
?photo Jennifer Kresse
As the family set down new roots, Knapp returned to blacksmithing. After a few years working in a shop in Walker?s Point, he learned his teacher was closing the business and moving to Beijing, China. Knapp decided to purchase the majority of the shop?s tools and he started his own business in 2005. Two years later he visited Beijing and to work in an iron factory where he shared his knowledge of technique.
Knapp has learned a lot over the years, he said, but he acquired most of his advanced skills on his own. ?When I was the apprentice, I was only allowed to do the grunt work and it wasn?t until I stepped into the deep end?that I had to figure stuff out for myself,? he said.
?It is a self-led craft,? noted his wife Shannon. ?Historically speaking, blacksmiths keep to themselves and then guard their secrets,? she laughed. Her parents worked for Sunvold Antiques in Milwaukee. Part of the work they did combined needlework and blacksmithing. Her mother created intricate crewelwork designs on lamp shades, and her dad wrought the iron lamp bases.
Knapp produces original ironwork and also reproductions and replications.
He often spends weeks studying a piece before beginning the process of replication. Puzzling out the techniques behind a work of iron can be the most exciting part, he said. Voracious study of texts, internet resources, and consultation have led to some of Knapp?s best work, including the gate he created for the Carl A. Miller mansion, 2909 E. Newberry Blvd. He consulted with the project?s architect, H. Russell Zimmerman, who designed gate to match the home?s existing ironwork. That work was created by Kent?s idol, renowned Milwaukee blacksmith, Cyril Colnik (1871?1958). The property was awarded the Cream of the Cream City Preservation Award for outstanding contributions to historic preservation in Milwaukee in 2010.
He recently completed a project for the Charles Allis Museum where he made a new railing for the wheelchair ramp. He copied Colnik?s design for the ironwork that encloses a circular driveway in the back of the property.
?
What Knapp hath wrought. ?photo Jennifer Kresse
?The great thing about blacksmithing is that you can make just about anything,? said Kent. ?I always joke that it?s the world?s second oldest profession. It kind of ties you into the historical timeline of mankind. Once you have an anvil and a hammer, you can make the rest of the tools. All the tools you see on my racks, more than likely, were either made by me or another blacksmith.?
The Knapps have been running their own business for the past seven years, but they have plenty of help from sons Miles (18), Birdie (14) and Oscar (13). Nineteen-year-old daughter Zoey is a chocolatier for Atomic Chocolate in Walker?s Point. Their most recent addition, daughter Dharma, was born October 26. It?s too soon to say if she?ll be swinging a hammer for the family business one day.
Kent Knapp at his anvil at his family?s Milwaukee Blacksmith shop, 518. E. Erie St. ?photo Jennifer Kresse
Miles prefers the more modern techniques of plasma cutting and welding and has his own line of metalwork. Birdie works with his older brother on projects such as yard stakes that support or hold solar lights or beverages. Oscar makes nails that are popular with woodworkers because of their rustic appearance.
Zoey Knapp holds her new sister Dharma Knapp.
Each of the boys was about age 10 when they began assisting in their dad?s shop. Shannon runs the business, handling the books, paying the bills, and marketing, but she also does the finishing work, priming and painting the final product. ?She?s got a good eye for that,? Kent said.
In addition to Shannon?s many hats, including being mother of five children, she also runs a daycare business in the Knapp home, taking in four children, two days a week. She said she is grateful that their boys have a place in the forge. ?Teenage testosterone is a volatile thing and to have a dirty place with fierce tools where they can create is a wonderful, positive outlet. They can work at the forge with Dad and there is great bonding that happens, often without many words,? said Shannon. The children all still do chores around the house as well, regardless of age. ?Taking care of your space and being respectful of those around you is a must though, regardless of who you live with. I remind my boys that they are in training for life and I will make certain that my daughters-in-law have competent partners!? she said.
The Knapp family has resided in Bay View for the past five years. Kent often bikes to work in the Third Ward. The boys frequently bike downtown where Miles and Birdie attend Tenor High School.
In summer biking to Chill On The Hill every week and walks to the lake and to Outpost Natural Foods are favorite activities. They also like to spend time at the Bay View Library, Anodyne Caf?, and Down And Over. ?The winter festivals that happen here and the amazing summer events and parks make this such a rich environment to nurture our family. Where else can you rip out the huge hill of grass in front of your house to plant food and have that celebrated by your community?? asked Kent. ?Our entire family is in love with Bay View,? added Shannon. ?The community is amazing.?
Kent Knapp?s work may be viewed on the balconies of Summerfield Court, 1479-1495 N. Farwell Ave.; the SoHi Building balconies and awning, 760 N. 27th St. (awarded a Mayor?s Design Award in 2010); the Emanuel D. Adler House, 1681 N. Prospect Ave.; and the Points East Pub sign, 1501 N. Jackson St. Closer to home, the hanging-basket brackets on Kinnickinnic Avenue north of Oklahoma were wrought by Knapp.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://bayviewcompass.com/archives/12762
Carlton Morgan Freeman Dead Stand Up to Cancer Azarenka NFL fantasy football Chris Kluwe Jennifer Granholm
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন