Thanks for your interest in Clay and Steel!
Celeste Flores is the owner and lead blacksmith.
We are based out of and run classes in Richmond, CA
Can’t attend a class but want to help? Grab a sweet new shirt from the shirt store here. Stickers too!
Blacksmithing
Clay and Steel is Celeste Flores and her crew. Based in Richmond CA, she offers a full course menu of metalwork:
Take blacksmithing classes for all skill levels and difficulty. Welding too!
Why/How are you a blacksmith? Click and find out! (I taught at The Crucible for 12 years)
Hire a blacksmith for an private class, an event, or for custom forged metalwork.
Wood Turning
Lower48 is a non-profit run by Jolie Karno and specializes in teaching wood-turning in Oakland. She is an amazing human and also co-ran and taught in her department at The Crucible. I adore Jolie, you will too.
Jolie adores art and dogs.
The dogs love Jolie right back, it’s incredible to watch really.
Definitely take classes from her but ask her to meet your dog first, I’d recommend filming it with permission.
There is likely no single person better to have around any dog.
ACE Makerspace
(formerly Ace Monster Toys)
A non-profit school/makerspace based out of north Oakland, their impressive facility has available:
Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths
SIBS is an intentionally inclusive organization aiming to help further the art of blacksmithing by smoothing social and economic barriers to entry.
While grants and scholarships are the SIBs’ most visible productions, SIBs also provides one on one mentorship to new, dedicated blacksmiths, and promote smiths who may have been traditionally underrepresented.
The aim of the mentorship program: get people past “a couple of classes” into something more serious and lasting. It pairs experienced smiths with inexperienced ones in a somewhat official (yet virtual) manner.
Seaport Studios
Seaport Studios is a studio space renting to all sorts of independent arts businesses:
A crew who makes giant dragons that breathe fire and light up. With a DJ booth, obviously.
A blacksmith, one you may have heard of, makes her home here.
Leather, Wood, a Sea Serpent destroying a giganic sailing ship, oil painting, ceramics, fire performers, clowns(!?), and a cat named Sauron.
Seaport is looking for a “clean” artist or business tenant (no fumes/fire/heat) to rent an indoor office-like space.
Department of Spontaneous Combustion
The DSC Crew are a multi-talented grouping of artists specializing in FIRE SCULPTURES. Just fire all the time. And sewing. But not fire sewing, probably.
The DSC provides training in welding and industrial fire arts on an appointment basis and is locally represented by Jenny Mount in Seaport Studios.
California Blacksmith Association
The California Blacksmith Association (CBA) is the world’s largest group of smiths and holds events all over the state.
Clay and Steel offers CBA Level 1 courses for smiths who are interested in learning techniques from the masters of the art.
Thanks for looking. Hope to see you at my shop!
-Celeste