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Tuesday June 19, 2012 Edition
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Tuesday June 19, 2012

By Cookie Steponaitis

  People are fascinated with Medieval Times. Maybe it is the knights, the armor, the castles, the magic, or the simple reality of how short and precious life is at anytime, but even though centuries have passed, the world still devours films, festivals, art and artifacts from this period of World History. Michael McEnerney would agree with this statement, because his love of everything Medieval began with his Castles and Knights. “Armors colored of bronze, iron, forged black armor, steel and even some with a blue sheen,” recollected armor artist Mike McEnerney. “They made my imagination come to life and it was always something that my brothers and I were able to do together. We each had a castle of our own.” Today Michael’s passion and creativity has channeled itself into an art form and a business.

    While chainmail is one unique facet of his business, McEnerney explained that the uses of chainmail and scale mail continue to expand to an ever increasing market and set of applications. “It is a business that surprisingly has many more applications than just armor and is growing because of our ever growing need to be unique and different, reflected McEnerney. “Doing research online you can make everything from jewelry and wallet chains, to decorative pieces on your tables, clothing and many other things in your home.
It is also used for safety measure against sharks, and even gloves for butchers to prevent any mishaps. But I have also created my own pieces that appeal to certain audiences including chainmail watch bands/fobs and novelty fishy key chains.”

            One joy for McEnerney is the various applications and designs made possible by the difference in chain mail and scale mail. “Although there is a big difference between chainmail and scale mail they share one simple concept and that is protection,” shared McEnerney. “Chainmail is a finished material formed from jump rings made by bending wire and wrapping it around a rod to make a tight spring of desired size. After cutting the wire into rings, using piers, artists open and close them together to make them into weaves.” What drives McEnerney is the desire to create and expand his new business, Fortified Arms Crafting, which can be found on Facebook or by contacting McEnerney at www.esty.com. Some pieces are priced and McEnerney specializes in custom ordered pieces. Drop by the local farmer’s markets in Addison County to see his crafts and meet the young artist yourself. Driven by a passion for the unique desire to create a firm appreciation of the craftsmanship of Medieval artisans, McEnerney has forged his own place in the local art scene and is waiting to show you how past, present and art come together to form functional pieces and flights of fun and fancy. One thing is for sure. Each piece is crafted with skill, persistence and as in the olden times, one link at a time.


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