I spent the month of November giving blacksmithing workshops in Huancayo, Lima, and Piura, Peru. Aceros Arequipa, a manufacturer of Peruvian steel products has been giving seminars, workshops, and demonstrations to the local Peruvian metalworkers for several years and has now expanded their program to include hands-on training with the addition of 16 anvils and 8 coal forges.

The blacksmith workshops are held in different cities throughout Peru at different times of the year. I was fortunate and honored to be the instructor for this series. The workshop included a design I created specifically for the students. It is a hand forged wrought iron book-end with hot-cut Nazca Lines and includes the hummingbird glyph. The main purpose for this design is to give the local smiths the ability to create a sellable product to the tourist industry. Something small enough to fit in a suitcase and carry some of the mysticism found in this wonderful and sacred country.