Four years ago, if you had asked Jacob Lefton what his career path was, he wouldn’t have said owning his own business in metalworking.
But today, that’s exactly what he’s doing — and it’s paying off.
The 26-year-old is spending his days (and nights) working in Belchertown, Mass. as a blacksmith, creating handmade designs for interested customers throughout the Greater Boston area. (Click on the links, at left, to watch a video of Lefton’s creative process at the forge, as well as to view a photo gallery of his work.)
A 2008 Hampshire College graduate, Lefton dabbled in various arts, from metalworking to fiction writing and even circus performance. In fact, after completing college, he immediately joined 10 other Hampshire students, all packed into a blue school bus powered by vegetable oil, for a six-week tour with the Criss Cross Circus.
Unsure of where he was headed next, Lefton traveled to the Ukraine in March 2009 for the annual blacksmithing festival. It was there he realized what he wanted to do.
“It just sort of called to me,” the Melrose native said. “Working with metal…made sense and was a lot of fun. I am the type of person that can’t leave my work at work. I have to take it home with me. So, I needed something I liked doing at work and that I could do outside of work.”
Inside his work space in western Massachusetts sits his forge, a hearth used for heating metal (reaching about 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit!) where Lefton spends the majority of his time.
There, metal becomes like clay, allowing Lefton to manipulate and transform it into the figures he desires.
“When you’re forging, you get more out of it,” he said. “You can change its shape, its size and its thickness and make it into something you can’t just buy from a shelf.”
Learning the trade
After the festival in Ukraine ended, Lefton set up an apprenticeship with local blacksmiths to gain further experience in the craft. During the six months he spent in Europe, he learned the skills needed for metal fabrication including composition, design, art and traditional techniques.
“I got not just a technical education but an art education,” he said. “I learned how to look at metal in ways that we aren’t taught in the States.”
In 2010, with student loans looming, Lefton returned to the U.S. to pursue a career in metalwork.
“I decided that I was tired of working for people. I didn’t really like that sort of relationship,” he said. “I felt like if I had to do blacksmithing part-time, it would fall to the wayside, so I started to try and sell pieces.”
He was able to use a workshop at Hampshire College for his start-up business and in February 2011, after selling some creations, he moved to his own space in Belchertown and began making pieces for a variety of clients.
Growing business
Since then, Lefton has been on the rise.
Featured on jacoblefton.com are several examples of the young artist’s work, from home furnishings to business signage, all the way to sculptures and jewelry.
Knowing he wanted to go big, Lefton began promoting himself as someone who created larger and more intricate pieces.
“I marketed myself, like with railings and signs, before I even had a job doing those,” he said. “I just told people I did them. It’s one of those ‘fake it until you make it’ situations.”
His advertising paid off. Last year he made $30,000 and is aiming to bring in $50,000 this year.
A couple weeks ago Lefton installed handmade door handles for a restaurant in Southwick, Mass. and he is currently working on creating a handrail for a private residence in Somerville.
“It’s going to take me probably at least a month to do it,” he said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s going to be a good project.”
Valued at more than $15,000, the railing will measure at about 14 feet, with every piece forged. Because the house where the railing will sit is from 1910, Lefton said he plans to incorporate Art Nouveau (a style of art and architecture that was especially popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s) into the design, along with bird-like shapes and other objects interesting to his client.
In March, he created a $30,000, spider-like, Tim Burton-inspired chandelier for a client in Southborough, Mass. It took him six months to complete, including installation.
Nuzzled into a corner of a low ceiling, with light projecting upwards the chandelier resembles an arachnid, with its extended arms scaling the top of the room.
“Most chandeliers hang down, but they wanted this one up close to the ceiling,” said Lefton. “This particular ceiling was painted black, so it reflects just enough light that you can read by it.”
Each of Lefton’s projects, no matter the scale or design, is one of a kind. Clients determine imagery for the items, and Lefton adds his own artistic twist.
“I’m always trying to figure out a new way of expressing myself so I’ll stretch my abilities a little by [doing something] I’ve never done before,” he said. “Every piece I make is not only personal to the person I’m making it for, it’s also personal to me and pushing the field forward.”
For now, Lefton is looking to work with architects, landscape designers and other people who want to invest in a large piece of art or to incorporate one into their high-end designs.
He is also hoping to return to his roots soon. He’s been searching for a permanent home in the Greater Boston area, and hopes to find a space by end of the summer.
“I’m looking for something with natural light and high ceilings,” the artist said.
Leaving his mark
Although Lefton has little time to create pieces for himself, he knows the work he constructs for others will remain throughout the years.
“The work I do is generally much more solid, and when I make it, I…[know] I’m not going to be around in 70 years, but my work will be,” he said. “Most of the stuff people buy off the shelf isn’t going to last more than 20 years because it’s not meant for that. I’m looking more in a sustainable, long-term vision because that’s the tradition I come from.”
He added that in Europe, there are pieces made from a forge that date back to the 1600s, still functional and in good condition.
“It gives us a view into the past and what was important to them back then,” he said. “I hope to do the same for future generations.”