Our Story

Newquist Forge is a family business founded 2016 on Marrowstone Island in Washington state by Erik Newquist and Radha Newsom. We are inspired by the idea that the objects around us need to be functional, long lasting and beautiful.

 

Erik has been a blacksmith for 20 years. Inspiration for cookware--and specifically woks--came from the daily meals of fragrant fried rice and pad thai cooked in woks while on a lengthy cycle tour in Thailand and Laos. When Erik began to hand hammer woks, he learned so much about function, technique and the cultural heritage of the wok from Chef Grace Young’s Breath of the Wok.

Radha Newsom is the basket weaver at Marrowstone Willow Baskets. She farms and wildcrafts weaving materials on Marrowstone Island. Each basket is woven with traditional techniques developed and refined by generations of artisans who have created and shared this craft. Radha has trained with Roma people in France and, most recently, with American and Irish basket weavers. She sells her work at online and teaches in person rush and willow basketry workshops in the Pacific Northwest, and through the Northwest Basket Weavers Guild. 

We focus primarily on hand hammered woks, cookware, garden tools, and baskets.  The online store is only open for a day every three months due to the nature of the work. Each piece is hand made by Radha or Erik, and takes time.

Newquist Forge also creates custom architectural work for customers on the Olympic Peninsula.  

Our goal is to produce functional and beautiful tools and cookware that last a lifetime. All products are tested for functionality, ease of use, and durability.