TOM LATANÉ constructed a primitive forge in 1972, in his parent’s backyard, after watching the blacksmiths at Colonial Williamsburg. Following high school graduation in 1973, he went to work at home producing forged iron and hewn wood products for art fairs and consignment shops. Tom attended three semesters of metalsmithing and jewelry classes at Towson State University in the late 1970’s. Since 1983 Tom and his wife Catherine (Kitty), have operated a shop in Pepin, Wisconsin repairing antiques and producing their own work incorporating historic design motifs from various traditions. He has demonstrated at numerous ABANA conferences as a founding member of the Patient Order of Meticulous Metalsmiths and taught at six different craft schools. From the beginning, Tom has been more impressed by the work blacksmiths of the past were able to produce with skill and simple hand tools, than by the potential of modern technology.