by Bea Peterson
High atop a hill in Buskirk John C. Guimarra spends hours in his shop designing and building fascinating creations of iron. He learned to work with iron as a kid helping his dad make horseshoes in Stephentown. “All I have left of those days is three horseshoes that went through the fire in the early 90s,” he said.
Guimarra retired from the pipe fitters union five years ago. Since then he has made
custom trellises, railings and gates for North Point Construction in Connecticut. He likes the work, he said, but he doesn’t like having to be away from home overnight and longer.
Guimarra has done creative iron work for years as a hobby. Now he’s going from hobby to business. His pieces often can be displayed outside or inside. He has a group that are ideal for outdoor weddings and parties. There’s an arbor with a bride and groom on it and a planter depicting the holy trinity. He also has a best man, a maid of honor and a mother of the bride and mother of the groom. All the figures can be rented for special events. “Maybe someone won’t want to pay $800 for an arbor, but they might pay $25 for a hand crafted star shaped wall bracket,” he said. Guimarra loves this work and said, “I’ll do this ’til I die.”
Besides trellises, railings and gates he creates plant holders, topiary, timber frame brackets and more. His whimsical characters are enchanting and are bound to make people smile.
His website displaying many of his works should be up and running soon. It’s www.heirloomiron.com. Otherwise he can be reached at 518-686-5285, 30 County Route 59, Buskirk, NY, 12028.
