José Manuel Ortiz Pereira

Forged elements, Locksmithing, Wood Joinery

NAME:

ADDRESS:

Calle Cuñas 137 B – 36828 Pontecaldelas

Website

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK

José Ortiz is above all a sculptor, even though he masters other crafts such as forging, bronze casting, stonework, woodwork, traditional boat-building or ceramics.

In his sculptures he uses iron, bronze, wood and stone. He carries out different traditional forge works as well. He designs grilles, lamps, knockers, handles, locks, hinges, or whichever object he is commissioned to design, in different materials such as iron, steel, brass, copper… He has also carried out wooden carpentry restoration works in rural dwellings and pazos (Galician traditional houses).

Even if it is small, his workshop is prepared to be able to work both with wood and metal, with the basic tools needed for both joinery and forging. Some of his works have been carried out by teams of blacksmiths who have worked directly on-site.

Apart from the traditional techniques, he also uses other more innovative ones like laser-cutting, plasma technology, new types of welding…

APPRENTICESHIP

With his father he learnt all about painting and drawing.

At the School of Arts and Crafts Maestro Mateo in Santiago de Compostela he gave his first steps in the world of stone. He also learnt how to work with jet, as well as modelling and casting.

He studied at the Crafts Centre in León and continued to broaden his knowledge with different national and international masters of traditional forge, artistic forge and heat treatments.

With Julio García Abalo and Xurxo Gómez he learned the techniques of traditional boat-building.

TEACHING

He spent a year teaching at the Escuela de Carpintería de Ribera in Estribela, Marín, dependent on the Consellería de Pesca, Marisqueo y Acuicultura within the Xunta de Galicia.

He delivered artistic drawing courses for the Crafts Centre in Vigo, the Association of Craftsmen of Galicia in Coruña and the Crafts and Design Centre in Lugo.

In his workshop he delivers courses on traditional forge, artistic forge, cutlery and heat treatments.

SELECTED WORKS

Among his carpentry works the most outstanding piece is probably the restoration of the Pazo de Villamarín, in Ourense, as well as the construction of his own house. Within the field of boat manufacture, it is worth mentioning the construction of the trimaran Undarousa.

Among his forging works, the sculptures in A Fonsagrada, Lugo, Gijón, Los Oscos, Taramundi, Ponte Caldelas… It is also worth mentioning his collaboration in the books Tejido Tradicional en Galicia and Manual de Forja Tradicional y Contemporánea. He has also carried out the design and the manufacture of the exhibits for a school-workshop and the Casa Museo de la Cuchillería Tradicional de Taramundi, among other works.