Clay and Steel in the Media

Maker Faire

Clay and Steel has been attending Maker Faire in some capacity since 2013. Celeste started demonstrating blacksmithing to Makers with her old friends at The Crucible in Oakland. She returned to the big “revival” of Maker Faire Bay Area in Vallejo. Starting in 2023 she appeared as Clay and Steel alongside dedicated volunteers and employees.

Members of the public are given a chance to swing a hammer at many of our events!

2023 Maker Faire: https://makerfaire.com/maker/entry/74313/

2024 Maker Faire: https://makerfaire.com/maker/entry/75776/

2025 Maker Faire: coming soon!!

Make Magazine’s Founder Dale Dougherty (wikipedia) was excited to hear about Celeste’s crew coming down, and sat her down for an interview before 2023’s Faire took place! Thanks Dale! Link to his interview with Celeste: https://makezine.com/article/maker-news/maker-faire/swinging-sledgehammers/

Bay Bridge Series Trophy

The Bay Bridge Series was a local rivalry between our two most prestigious baseball teams. Put on by NBC Sports, the winner of a series of games would be awarded a trophy made of steel from The Old Bay Bridge. The steel was preserved and gifted to us by CalTrans. I worked with a fellow blacksmith and the team at Scientific Art Studios (they did the giant Coke bottle at Giants Stadium) to help make the trophy. NBC Sports has an excellent video here: “About The Tom Pellack Memorial Bridge Trophy” (the trophy was renamed recently to honor a co-worker)

I was tasked with turning the artist’s concept sketch into a workshop ready blueprint for the trophy, as well as forging out the troll that is hidden within the truss structure. The hidden troll is a reference to the famous series of metal sculptures welded to both the old and the new eastern span of the bridge.

photo credits: Paul Chinn/The Chronicle, The Crucible, NBC Sports

Machine Thinking

Iron from Sand

While teaching at The Crucible, Celeste appeared in a popular YouTube creator’s video about the iron smelt taking place behind the smithy. The smelt was organized by CBA Members Jeff Pringle and Chris Niemer with help from The Crucible in Oakland. The audio is unfortunate sometimes, but the visuals are stunning! Sign up to Clay and Steel’s newsletter to find out when the next iron smelt is going on!

The Anvil’s Ring

the ABANA magazine

Mr. Mark Kochan, the editor of The Anvil’s Ring asked me to write an article about myself for the quarterly blacksmith’s magazine. Excitingly, I share being in this issue with some absolute legends such as Shawn Covell, Jerry Coe, Anton Yakushev, and Dennis Dusek! - Celeste

ABANA just so happens to keep this exact issue as a download on their site: https://abana.org/ar/

Artisans Sharing Skills

In 2016, a couple dozen metal artists and blacksmiths visited the capital of Argentina in an effort to bring the knowledge of the artform to anyone who wanted to attend.

A park was set aside in Buenos Aires, filled up with blacksmiths, and the public was invited to learn.

Interested blacksmiths from all over the Americas (and one from Catalonia) taught various lessons for free to any attendee for a full week. Tapers, tools, hammers, forge making. All the skills they could manage to cram into the event.

The artform once flourished in Argentina, decorating plazas and hotels in beautiful shapes and forms. Early 20th century proved tough on many skilled tradespeople who had been gradually disappearing since the start of WWI and the end of Argentina’s explosive growth.

After speaking with fellow smiths in Argentina, the CBA and Jerry Coe organized a trip to bring tools, forges and techniques back to the people who cared to attend. A lot of people cared to attend! The event was a stunning success, drawing in crowds and reporters. There have been three return trips since: 2018, 2020, and again in 2025. Celeste went in 2016 and 2018.

Here is a spanish language article in an Argentinian national paper about the 2018 event: https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/artesanos-del-hierro-con-expertos-extranjeros-buscan-rescatar-un-oficio-olvidado-nid2113934/ (Clay and Steel does not support La Nacion or it’s interests, they just showed up to photograph)

Kathy Chouteau, a reporter for the Richmond Standard came by in 2023 and in 2024 to do a local interest story and try her hand at hammering. She loved my shop, the class and wrote a very kind article to help me get known more.

Other Notable Mentions:

Robin Sloan

Apparently, author Robin Sloan took a Bronze Bracelet Class and loved it! We found out when he wrote about his experience in his monthly newsletter here: https://www.robinsloan.com/newsletters/golden-sardine/ (search “clay”).

Thanks Robin!

Shoutout LA

This magazine interviewed Celeste about her growing business in 2024: https://shoutoutla.com/meet-celeste-flores-artist-blacksmith/

Forge Side Chat

(Episode 106)

This was such a fun chat. I was contacted by a hoser who runs a podcast that interviews blacksmiths from all over. My shop has transformed and grown quite a bit since then!