Blue Temper: In the Adelaide City region of South Australia

It's amazing what you find in the back streets of the suburbs. Tucked away in a groovy looking shed in the backyard of a house in bayside Somerton Park is a bloke who's practicing the age-old art of black-smithing.

Chris Murphy is a wrought iron artist whose business is called Blue Temper. Chris grew up on a dairy farm at Mount Compass so he's always been pretty good with his hands. But it took a serious car accident 8 years ago to make him realise that there is more to life than working regular hours at a regular job.

A blacksmithing course at TAFE set him on the path of a new career - with very old beginnings. “This is pretty much an ancient technique that blacksmiths have used for thousands of years,” Chris said. “Not much has changed really. Once you've heated the steel up you can pretty well do what you want with it.”

And that's certainly the case when you look around the courtyard - it's full of creations from Chris forge and anvil. Stunning examples of how heavy black steel can be softened, shaped and moulded into intricate yet functional pieces of art.

Chris says he gets the most satisfaction from being able to create something from scratch - without needing an office full of high tech equipment. A forge, an anvil, a hammer and brute strength are the minimum requirements. And, of course, a willingness to learn from your mistakes.

“I think the whole job is trail and error. You’re basically learning every day and that's something else I really love about this - every day you've got a new problem to work out to solve.”

Now this might be a medieval art - but Chris does have some help. The forge is kept glowing hot by an electric fan and the mechanical hammer is something to keep stray fingers well clear of.

Producing consistent matching shapes with the hot iron is achieved by using a couple of jibs whipped up with the welder. The red-hot iron bent like plasticine as Chris worked on a wrought iron bed.

“A customer came up with the design. The head and the foot of the bed never really come out exactly the same and that's kind of the beauty of the work too - it's all hand made so it's not perfect.” Explained Chris.

The Blue Temper workshop is in Somerton Park. He takes orders for wrought iron furniture, fencing, security screens and sculpture. He can be contacted on 8350 9616. He also has pieces on display at Urban Cow Gallery in Frome Street in Adelaide.

Blue Temper
Chris Murphy
8350 9616

Urban Cow
11 Frome St
Adelaide
8232 6126