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Scott Lankton was born in Midland, Michigan in 1956. He received his B.F.A. from Western Michigan University in 1978.
He opened his own studio in 1979. In 1985 he went to Aachen, Germany and received his Diploma
at The International Teaching Center for Metal Design where he apprenticed under Manfred Bredohl.
Today he works as a studio artist mostly doing architectural commissions in steel and bronze such as stair railings, gates, furniture, kitchen racks, and sculpture. Recent projects include 180 feet of dogwood motif railing in steel and bronze, forging handguns into artwork, and a large hanging sculpture for a cancer center. In the past, the British Museum commissioned him to replicate the pattern welded sword from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial (dated near 600 A.D.) This sword, made in 1989, is now permanently displayed in London alongside the original. He has taught at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, Peter’s Valley Craft Center in New Jersey, Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN, and Tillers International, Kalamazoo, MI. He has lead many workshops and demonstrated and lectured at national and international conferences such as, ABANA, Ferro 2000, and Ferro 2005 in Europe. He was President, Vice President, and Financial Chair of ABANA, the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America. He served on their Board of Directors for nine years. According to Lankton, “the spontaneity of forging hot steel continues to delight me as does the strength and integrity of this medium. I am fascinated by the duality of beauty and danger that that life combines and I hope that through my work, the lives of others will be made a bit more beautiful.” |
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Scott likes to have fun driving the supercharged 1963 Morgan +4 that he restored.
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Scott with smithing colleagues Lisbeth Quist, Kyle Connolly, and others.
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Scott doing his part in the assembly of the Heers Ash Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, 2010 |
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UNICEF Peace Sculpture Vechta, Germany 2005 Shown here is the top of the sculpture which was forged from parts of a decommissioned military tank. This part is the cut and bent barrel of the tank. Forty-two blacksmiths from seventeen countries participated. The conference, organized by Alfred Bullermann, became a metaphor for world cooperation as the participants worked through language and other differences to forge a vision together. With so many individuals from very different backgrounds, the workshop turned out to be a microcosm of the world itself. Individuals had to find creative and cooperative ways to deal with a situation where there were limited resources of food, fuel, and material!
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Scott and his colleagues from Mali and USA cutting a tank barrel for a Peace Sculpture benifiting UNICEF in Vecta, Germany at FERRO 2005.
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Scott heating the sliced tank barrel for bending, FERRO 2005, Vechta, Germany
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Bending the sliced Tank barrel, FERRO 2005, Vechta, Germany
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Alfred Bullermann, organizer, forging in Vechta, Germany at FERRO 2005. Link to Photos of Alfred Bullermann's work at his website. Link to Photos of Alfred Bullermann's work at Metallgestaltung |
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Forging for peace in the rain. FERRO 2005 Vechta, Germany
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Peace symbol forged from Tank steel, FERRO 2005 Vechta, Germany.
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Scott teaching in Carbondale, Colorado at the Rocky Mountain School. 2005
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"Happiness is a Warm Gun" Scott Lankton & Jim Roth, "Gun Art Roadkill Series", 1999.
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Dedication and Champagne christening of "Falling Fence" sculpture, by Manfred Bredohl and thirteen Michigan Balcksmiths. It was executed at a workshop in Scott's Jackson Road studio in 1987 in conjunction with an exhibition at Slusser gallery, U of M school of Art. Left to right, Manfred Bredohl, Mame Jackson, Scott Lankton.
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Scott and his Master, Manfred Bredolh from Aachen, Germany, forging outside of Slusser gallery, 1987.
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Scott and Kurt Lang studying Japanese swordsmithing with Japanese Masters Shoji and
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Scott's second Blacksmith shop, Hart, MI, before renovation, 1979.
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Scott's second Blacksmith shop, Hart, MI, after renovation, 1980.
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Scott Lankton finds his smithing niche and triumphs under his work.
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