Art & Soul -- Forging an artistic life - Margo and Dennis Proksa 12.09.09 BLACKROCK, ID (idaho) - Dennis and Margo Proksa met and fell in love in art school in Chicago. They've been married for 36 years.

Margo Proksa: "We've been together so long that sometimes when we're eating breakfast or drinking coffee I wouldn't be surprised if our heart rates are actually synchronized."

They've built their lives around art. Margo paints and draws. She uses treasures she finds in nature and thrift stores to create her pieces.

Margo Proksa: "It all kind of relates to how we experience a life a life time. It's a good metaphor for an artist and it's easy to employ."

Dennis favors a plasma cutter, forge and hammer over Margo's clippers and paints. He builds modern sculptures from forged steel.

Dennis Proksa: "I don't want to make them for any other reason other than expression. I really enjoy doing them and expressing myself and it's the only reason I do them."

But Margo and Dennis Proksa don't pay the bills doing their respective arts. They have day jobs. It's their blacksmithing business - Blackrock Forge. The Proksas build high-end decorative railings, gates, and contemporary furniture using the most basic tools - fire, air and steel.

Sound of the forge.

Dennis pulls a piece of steel from the forge. He swings a hammer to shape this glowing reddish orange metal before it cools off.

Sound of hammer hitting metal.

This is really a demonstration for me to see how blacksmithing works. It's enough to know that what the Proksas do every day is hard work and their good at it.
They started Blackrock Forge back in 1976. Dennis had quit his job welding pipe in Pocatello while Margo kept on as the craft shop director at Idaho State University.

Margo and Dennis Proksa: "I mean it was a struggle for a long time. Dennis: For years (laughter) it was really trying. Just the fact that we stuck with it and became successful is amazing to me because it was really dire at some points."

But in the early nineties they got their big break. It came from a chair with flying swallows made with metal. It caught everyone's attention at a national furniture show including a designer. She put the Proksas furniture in showrooms . New York, Chicago, Los Angles, Denver

Dennis Proksa: "We had a national network of showrooms. I mean we were out in the whole country."

The Proskas had a line of forty furniture pieces - stools with spiral backs; modern lamps, tables, and chairs. They did that for a while before building mainly high-end fixtures for homes. But despite the success, the Proksas are tired. They just turned sixty this year. Now they're talking about retiring.

Dennis Proksa: "We're not talking about retirement from making stuff and art. We're talking about retirement from the drudgery of the everyday business that's so intense."

Here's what that drudgery sounds like.

Hear the sound of pounding.

Dennis wrestles a piece of steel heated up to 2000 degrees. He tells stories of working with steel that's so hot it burns his t-shirt off if he's not wearing leather. With age, he's noticing aches and pains. He says the idea of retiring really sunk in after a vacation this summer.

Dennis Proksa: "When I came back I couldn't' get myself going again I realized I don't want to do this at this level any more. It's, it's too much."

So the couple has crafted a retirement plan. Sell Blackrock Forge and their house but it's a tall order. This is sagebrush country in rural Idaho and blacksmithing is a niche business. Plan B is to liquidate some of the equipment in a few years. Eventually, Dennis says they'll downsize and build a new energy efficient home.

Dennis Proksa: "Then have a place to work, continue to do little jobs, special jobs some of the nicer jobs that aren't so heavy and involved and that's what retirement looks like to me."

Margo shares that vision. She says they're both looking forward to have the freedom to do the art they want to do not for money but for the enjoyment of creating it.

Margo Proksa: "I just want to work in my studio (laughs) all the time and not have as many distractions, as many responsibilities."

And without the deadlines, the paperwork or the employees, the Proksa say they're going to travel. But don't expect to see them in an RV. They've put money down on a hybrid electric car that's designed to get 300 miles to the gallon. It's only legal in California right now but Margo and Dennis hope by the time they retire, two years from now, that won't be an issue in Idaho.

For Boise State Radio, I'm Sadie Babits in Blackrock, Idaho.

To learn more about Blackrock Forge visit http://www.blackrockforgeinc.com/ © Copyright 2012, idaho