The changing face of the North Yorkshire landscape throughout the year provided the inspiration behind a master blacksmith’s new installation in Hutton-le-Hole.

David Stephenson’s He Vivido (I Have Lived) officially opens at the Ryedale Folk Museum tomorrow, although visitors are welcome to attend tonight’s preview from 7pm to 9pm.

David came on the subject of his installation – a series of 12 repousse copper panels – while sheltering from avalanches in the Spanish Pyrenees. Inscribed on the stone wall in Spanish were words that translate as: “Only happy is he who each day can say I have lived.”

Such a philosophy would apply to David’s working life. After scientific training and a teaching career in Britain and abroad, he returned to his roots on the North York Moors and established a forge in 1999. Since then he has earned a reputation as a master blacksmith and craftsman.

“Handmade work has long fascinated me and I greatly admire the honesty whereby design and technique are matched and the finished piece reveals the character of the material,” he says.

David was introduced to the technique of repousse work in sheet copper by Paul Allan, at the National Blacksmithing School, Hereford, where he was “instantly captivated by the combination of esoteric techniques and the potential for exploration and experimentation in applying them outside the traditional range of styles”.

He embarked on developing this new technique after discovering a carved relief panel by the artist Eric Gill on the font at St Joseph’s Church, in Pickering. “The beautiful, gentle subtlety of Gill’s relief work opened to me the possibilities of repousse relief work,” he says.

The process is intricate and involves the drawing of a design on to a sheet of copper and the use of small chisels. David has compared his experience with that of an artist, saying: “Like any drawing, it’s difficult, but crucial, to know exactly when to stop.”

His new exhibition captures his reflections on particular aspects of the landscape, with the 12 copper reliefs suggesting a calendar or cycle of nature.

He Vivido is the final show of the Fired Arts season in the folk museum’s gallery where, since May, 20,000 visitors have seen works in glass, ceramic and metal by such North Yorkshire kiln and forge artists as Gillies Jones Glass and Peter Humpherson.

The closing date is December 6; admission is free and opening times are 10am to 4.30pm daily.

For more information on the gallery, visit thegalleryatryedalefolkmuseum.blogspot.com