Faces of Rappahannock
By Matt Pelkey
Faces of Rappahannock
Name: Nol Putnam
Age: 73
Birthplace: Boston, Ma.
Family: Daughter, stepson
Favorite movie: "Bad Day at Black Rock"
Favorite book: "Winnie the Pooh" by A. A. Milne and "The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox" by Maggie O'Farrell
Favorite food: Fresh green salad
Hobbies: Reading, collecting books, genealogy and traveling
First waking thought: "Oftentimes it has something to do with my art."
What brings a smile to your face: Somebody with a good sense of humor and his dogs
Personal hero: George Cooper, one of his history professors in college
With spring setting in temperatures have been on the rise, but Nol Putnam is used to the heat. He spends most of his days sweating over 2,000 degree flames in his Huntly forge.
Rappahannock's renowned blacksmith has been hammering away at hot steel for 35 years, crafting ornate gates, stairway rails and, more recently, abstract sculptures.
Putnam says that working with metal is in his blood -- his great, great grandfather was a blacksmith and a carriage maker, and his great grandfather and his grandfather were both engineers. But for him, it took nearly 40 years to find his way to the craft.
Putnam was born in Boston and raised on a farm in rural Connecticut. His family lived off the land, growing vegetables and tending to cows, chickens and geese.
Unknowingly he was immersed in an artistic community from a young age. He played with the children of sculptor Alexander Calder, who was friends with his mother, Putnam said.
It wasn't until he was older that he realized who the family friend was.
A poster of one of Calder's sculptures hangs in Putnam's studio, but modestly he claims not to aspire to the artist's greatness.
"Am I trying to compare myself to Calder? No way," he said.
Putnam split up his college education with a few years of military service. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in modern European history and went on to head the history department at a now-defunct school for boys in Massachusetts. He spent 14 years there as a teacher.
In that time he also ran a program that placed Native American students in New England schools.
He helped the students adjust to an environment that in many cases was drastically different than what they had come from.
He acted as mentor, counselor, banker, and taxi driver, he said, "everything to support these kids."
The experience changed his life.
From his exposure to Native American students, he found a new vantage point from which to examine mainstream American culture.
"Then you look at your own way with a different eye," he said.
He said he is still in contact with some of the kids from the program.
After teaching he earned a master's degree in education and was pursuing a doctorate when he found himself in the middle of a recession and few job prospects awaiting him upon graduation.
At that point he decided to buy land in the Massachusetts Berkshires and return to the farm life he had known as a child.
He began trying his hand at different crafts, taking on woodworking and pottery, but none panned out.
Then he gave a go as a blacksmith.
"It was just magical, to watch the iron flow beneath the hammer like that," he said.
He decided that was what he wanted to do.
"I cashed in my savings to buy time to teach myself blacksmithing," he said.
Three years later, in 1976, he moved to Madison County and then in 1982 he moved to Rappahannock.
He opened a blacksmith shop in the Plains, where he worked for 20 years.
He supported himself through commission work from architects and landscapers, making iron pieces for their clients.
Putnam has shown his work in Washington, D.C., was a featured artist in Wisconsin and Georgia and has taught blacksmithing at craft schools throughout the United States.
His breakthrough moment, however, came in 1986 when he was hired to do work for the National Cathedral. Over a period of years he crafted three gates, four six-foot candelabras and a few other pieces on commission.
"That was a really good gig, as they say," he said.
Putnam said that he had enough work to keep him busy before the National Cathedral Commission, but the prestige of the job greatly boosted his reputation.
"It's sort of the cachet of doing work for the cathedral and the honor of being asked to do work for the cathedral that takes it to a little different plane," he said.
Recently Putnam departed from the intricate Gothic style that has defined his work and began creating flowing, abstract sculptures.
"I'm old enough now and I hope I have enough money in the bank that I don't have to work full tilt on commission work," he said.
The Caulfield Gallery in Washington will show a collection of his new work through the month of May. The exhibition is titled "New Directions."
Putnam said he has little interest in showing his sculptures in big-city galleries.
"It's nice to be able to show locally in the county, and enough people come through to see it," he said.
The Caulfield Gallery will handle most of his work, but 24 Crows in Flint Hill and the Geneva Welch Gallery in Washington will display some of his smaller works.
Putnam will also lead a tour of the iron work at the National Cathedral on May 10. Admission is $10. For more information and to purchase tickets visit https://tickets.cathedral.org/public/show.asp or call 202) 537-2228.
"New Directions" at the Caulfield Gallery is open to the public and free of charge. The gallery will hold an opening reception on May 3 from 2 to 6 p.m. Refreshments, wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served. At 3 p.m., Putnam will talk about his work.
Caulfield Gallery is located at 325 B Middle Street in Washington, in a building shared with the Middle Street Gallery. Hours are Thursday through Monday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or by appointment.
-Compiled by Matt Pelkey
E-mail the reporter at mpelkey@timespapers.com