Clay Hill Forge
Artist Blacksmith
Staff
Dale Morse is the proprietor of Clay Hill Forge. He began blacksmithing in 1976 at the age of nine. His early training took place in the forges of the Booker T. Washington National Monument in Franklin County, VA, where he and his family exhibited historically accurate demonstrations of everyday life in the rural 1860’s era tobacco plantation. Dale then established a blacksmithing shop at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in Business administration.
Dale further built on his knowledge of blacksmithing at the Penland and John C. Campbell craft schools as well as at other professional shops across the nation. He has studied under Manfred Bredhol of the Vulkanschmiede in Aachen, Germany and Gabrielle Curtolo in San Servolo, Venice, Italy. Dale’s ironwork creations grace homes and businesses all over the U.S. and abroad, including the Atlantis Hotel and Casino in Paradise Island, Bahamas, and in the private palace of the Emir of Qatar at Um Qarn.