Lisa Geertsen is an artist blacksmith from Seattle, WA. She has owned and operated Firelight Forge since 2007. From 2013 to 2020 she was the Metal and Stone Sculpture Studio Manager at Pratt Fine Arts Center in addition to teaching blacksmithing classes at Pratt. Lisa held the position of Instructional Technician in Sculpture at the University of Washington from 2023 – 2025 and is currently participating in a metalsmithing residency in Hawaii and teaching multiple forging workshops while there. Lisa has a BFA in sculpture from WVU and an MFA in Blacksmithing and Metalsmithing from Southern Illinois University. She has taught at national craft  schools such as Penland, Haystack and John C Campbell Folk School as well as NWBA events.

She has exhibited at numerous national and international blacksmithing conferences as well as group exhibitions. Her current work revolves around the meditative process of forging and forming metal with an emphasis on aluminum sheet metal cloud forms. Lisa will be demonstrating on Friday and Saturday from 2:00 – 5:00 in the Demo Barn. Learn more about Lisa at https://firelightforge.com/

John Winer is an internationally famous blacksmith who has been forging for over 30 years. Noted also as a musician, John’s approach to design is much like his musical endeavors, improvisational and concentrating on the fluidity and motion of line. He runs a blacksmithing shop on his farm in Tennessee where he is sought out for his high-end architectural work as well as unique furniture designs with a clientele waiting list of years. John’s work can be found in magazines such as Anvil’s Ring, The Hammer’s Blow, Furniture Style Magazine, High Country Magazine, and Kitchen Trends Magazine.

He has demonstrated internationally as well as at numerous Blacksmith Association Conferences all over the US including Octoberfest for California Blacksmith Association. All this is to say that John Winer is a phenomenal teacher. You won’t want to miss the opportunity to learn from John while he is in Longview! John’s Demonstrations will be on Friday and Saturday from 9:00 – noon in the Demo Barn.

***Also available is a one-day audit of John Winer’s Preconference workshop for $30 on Thursday, April 9, 2026. This will be available to NWBA members only on Thursday (the last day of the workshop.) Participants will be allowed to spend the day viewing the workshop from the bleachers in the MC. John will interact with the audience off and on throughout the day. Audit tickets can be purchased at the door.

Learn more about John at https://johnwinerforge.com

David Lisch is an award-winning American knife maker and a respected innovator of unique guard designs. He forges Damascus steel with beautiful patterns that are clean, controlled and organic. His knives push the knife making boundaries, and you can see the influence of his years as a blacksmith in every knife he makes. The flowing pattern of his steel show complete control of the forging process.

As well as being a blade smith, David has run a successful blacksmith business for 25 years and teaches at his school, Oak Grove Forging Facility. David achieved a Master Smith rating from the American Bladesmith Society (ABS) in 2015 and is the 6th Master Smith in the state of Washington, USA.

His desire is to make some of the most unique knives that have ever been created. In doing so, he has come up with a new system of construction on his stag handle bowies knives, and many unique guard designs that set his knives apart. He uses his blacksmith skills to keep his knife making new and exciting for the collectors of his work. Away from the shop, David likes rock carving, fishing, bee keeping, throwing tomahawks and sitting in the backyard bird watching. He is a long-time member of the NWBA and has demonstrated for numerous associations. Most recently David has been learning to engrave and carve with hand chisels. He continues developing new knife designs as well as making folding knives and swords. His knives have a warm and old world look that is unique to David Lisch.

Learn more about Dave Lisch at http://davidlisch.com