Dana St. Amand

"I love the idea of embracing the imperfect and
allowing things to flow into function." -Dana St. Amand

Dana's work is a reflection of her fascination with fantasy and medieval aesthetics. Her hand forged knives, swords and armory are gorgeous and functional.  From a Celtic dirk inspired dagger all the way to a beautifully crafted saber or sword, her passion is very apparent in her work.  She also creates wooden handled chef's knives for everyday use, showing that her experience and understanding of knives is diverse.

Growing up, Dana was always working with her hands and followed her dad around when he would fix the car or had projects around the house.  Add in a piqued interest in going to Renaissance festivals and Dana had a craving to forge. "All of this combined with a lack of things to do on the weekend culminated in my using my parents' barbecue pit and a hairdryer to make my first charcoal forge. I had one of my dad's old nailing hammers and my anvil was a rock. I made my first knife with the wrong kind of steel. It was TERRIBLE but I was hooked." says Dana.

Dana is also involved in Buhurt, armored combat characteristic of the Middle Ages. She even makes some of her own armor for competition!  Armoring is new to Dana, showing again her thirst for learning and creating. Her Youtube channel, Tiktok and Instagram are great places to find videos featuring both her action in the forge and armored combat. 

To the maker community Dana says, "For new folks coming into any craft, be patient with yourself and your work. I am a big fan of the idea of "Do the best you can now but make the next one better." I've found that that's the best way to move from
project to project. For the makers who have been around longer, be kinder to yourself when you make "rookie" mistakes. We make things by hand and if I may be so bold as to make a blanket assumption, those hands are still human."

She exudes a true spark of devotion for the work that she does, and we are so happy to feature her! Please check her out, and yes she does commission work! Her website and other media channels are listed below. 

 Website: https://www.danastamand.com/

Instagram: @dana_st_amand

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/danastamand

Tiktok: @danaistrans

 

 

Happy Sharpening!

Kristie F