Past Shapes Present Into Future

Last updated Wednesday, January 3, 2007 7:55 PM CST in Your Home

By Becca Bacon Martin
The Morning News

"The idea of living history appealed to me, and I wanted to believe that chivalry wasn't dead. People sometimes think the fighting is barbaric, but I have never been treated as courteously as by the person who just kicked my behind!"

At that time, Ward remembered, there were few craftsmen selling the armor and other accoutrements SCA fighters needed.

"You couldn't go buy your sports equipment at Wal-Mart," he said. "Being an old country boy from out by Gravette, I had learned to do a lot of things in day-to-day life. I could fix things, build things, and at some point, I began to learn to do the things I needed to fight in the SCA."

Ward began to construct metal gauntlets, replacing the hockey gloves most fighters were wearing. Knee and elbow protection came along about the same time, followed by helmets and body armor, all made from scrap metal -- old sinks, discarded street signs and compressor housings.

"I'd seen Andy around, and I thought I might be able to help him with his fighting," said Jim Downey of Columbia, Mo., an SCA knight and two-time king who now works as an artist, book conservator and arts columnist. "I really liked his attitudes about helping others, his idealism, and thought I could show him ways to make those instincts more effective."

That interest led Ward to become squire to His Grace, Duke Sir Shadan Secarius -- and it allowed Downey to watch Ward's growth as a craftsman.

"I don't recall whether Andy came up with the design he made famous or whether he merely perfected and streamlined it," Downey said of Ward's gauntlets. "But it was a phenomenal improvement, particularly since he was able to offer them at a price which was too low for people not to have them! This was a huge service to the entire fighting community, not just in our area but across the country. There are many people today who would have suffered significant injury had he not done this."

Downey also watched Ward become an artist.

"And the thing was, he wasn't just satisfied with producing inexpensive, ugly gauntlets," he said. "He constantly made improvements to the design, adding in both function and elegance, without turning them into objects too expensive for their purpose. His craftsmanship and pride in his work was always evident, as he learned and explored with his medium. That is the mark of a real artist, in my opinion."

In the Army Now

It took one more twist of fate for Ward to wind up in the commercial metal business. Asthma drove him out of a second tour of duty with the Army National Guard.

"After Sept. 11, I wanted to go back in, but I thought I was too old," Ward said. "Then a retired Marine told me I could go back if I could complete 20 years by the time I was 60. So at 40, I was walking 2 miles a day to get in shape. I dropped 30 pounds in three months and reenlisted (with the Rogers 142nd Field Artillery, C Battery) in March of 2005.

"For the next year, I went to schools all over the Midwest to be retrained."

Then Ward was deployed to Fort Dix, N.J., to prepare to go to Iraq -- and black mold in the barracks triggered asthma he didn't know he had. Soon, he was back in Northwest Arkansas and looking for a career close to home. Wife Kristen Westhoff, a veterinarian in Bentonville, didn't want him to travel anymore.

"There's such growth in Northwest Arkansas, I couldn't help but think there would be a market for architectural blacksmithing," Ward said.

Ward's old friend Downey is largely retired from the SCA and hasn't kept up with Ward's craft. But Steve Boyd, known in the SCA as Master Andrixos Seljukroctonis, has.

"Just before he left for National Guard training, Andy had spotted an ad in a metalworking magazine that talked about this type of plasma machine," recalled Boyd, who lives in Fayetteville. "He got real enthused about it and was planning on spending his hard-earned soldier pay on that as soon as he got back. Then because of his medical discharge, he got out a lot quicker and didn't have the spare cash to throw around. I still had a bit of cash lying around" from a winning appearance on a game show.

Boyd couldn't encourage Ward so much in "real world" applications, but he knew he could help him ply his trade in the SCA.

"What I provided him was ready access to markets, because I travel every weekend to every kingdom and have an established presence at the major wars," said Boyd, who sells trim for SCA garments. "Even if he isn't there, in a lot of cases people know that if there are going to be 'Andy gauntlets' at a war, the first place to look is at my booth.

"Being more closely attuned to the SCA marketplace, I had a slightly better idea of what demand we could create there," Boyd said. "Since April, he's been figuring out what else he can do."

So far, Ward's name has largely traveled by word of mouth outside the SCA. He's made a set of garden gates for Boyd and his wife, Cassandra McCraw, a sculptural tree for Bella Vistans Von and Phyllis VonHoldt -- and the birds at their home -- and a metal cart for a Doberman with a bad back. A knight himself since 1997, he's also creating a new line of products for his old SCA friends, among them belt buckles that he can customize for a kingdom, for those who carry an honor such as knighthood or with someone's personal coat of arms.

"I really enjoy being able to make something from an idea," he said. "If I have a drawing, I can produce it in metal, from one belt buckle to something that's 4-feet square. You want a gate for your ranch, I can make it with your prize appaloosa on it. All you have to do is give me a photo.

"I've had to start automating more," Ward admitted with a chuckle, indicating the plasma table. "I'm not getting any younger. But I want to be able to do this in 20 years!"

Web Watch

www.wardmetal.com

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