Today is episode #93 and I have Brian Brazeal who has been blacksmithing for over 36 years and has dedicated most of his career to teaching the craft here in the US and around the world.  Soon he will be going to Africa with his brother Ed to start a blacksmith program at a school in Kenya, he talks all about this in the interview.  Now I’d like to thank our sponsor for today’s episode, ABANA. The Artist Blacksmith Association of North America, AKA ABANA is a non-profit organization that began in 1973 to perpetuate the noble art of blacksmithing.  ABANA encourages and facilitates the training of blacksmiths and exposes the art of blacksmithing to the public.  Head on over to the website, www.abana.org , where you can learn about their membership benefits and sign up to be added to their mailing list, which is the best way to learn about affiliate and regional events and other blacksmithing announcements.  Thank you ABANA! What We Talked About Brian’s introduction to blacksmithing was through becoming a farrier at first, learning from his father, though that wasn’t his first choice of careers. Brian was on the Olympic Judo Training team after high school with big aspirations of furthering his Olympic future until he had a neck injury that ended his Judo training. Around the age of 30 Brian started to make the transition from being a Farrier to an Artist Blacksmith, while he was living in California. He worked at the Mission San Juan in Capistrano California for five years, the Mission is the oldest smelting of ore to make metal in the history of California. To read about the history of the Mission blacksmiths and smelting go to this website, http://factcards.califa.org/mli/blacksmith.html In 2002 Brian started to travel the country and internationally. He worked with Tom Clarke in Missouri and then traveled to Europe to work with Alfred Habermann for a year and a half. Brian has plans to travel to Africa and teach blacksmithing at a school for orphans. Brian and his brother Ed created a traveling blacksmith station, complete with anvil, tongs, hand tools and hammers.  5 of the stations are packed up and ready to go to the African school. Guest Links Brian’s Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/brianbrazealblacksmith A Big Thank You to today’s sponsor – ABANA, www.abana.org  If you enjoyed this episode, I would love it if you would support the show by: telling your friends. sharing this episode using the social sharing buttons below. subscribing to the show and leaving a rating and review in iTunes.  Not sure how?  Just follow these simple steps here or watch the short video tutorial, http://youtu.be/rq4OCyRGjHc?list=UUH3MfNZLXlKgionAs6kMT_Q subscribing to the show in Stitcher, http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=54499&refid=stpr Thanks so much for your support!