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I met Donald Marquardt in 1985 when he was an industrial education teacher at Hickman H.S. in Columbia. As his boss in Columbia Public Schools Adult Education program, I was impressed by his dedication and skill as a teacher. His humor and talent in his field endeared him to his students, both young and old.
Donald retired in 1998 after 32 years of teaching. He continued to teach woodworking for Adult Education, which he still does today. Honestly, Donald needs to be busy every minute and teaching occasional adult classes was not enough to keep him out of trouble. We began discussing possibilities for a new career, something that could put his considerable skills to work. Life took another unplanned twist when we met Harry Snyder. Harry was a pewtersmith, and a BOMH juried artist. He was ready to retire and wanted to sell his business. With Donald’s lifelong knowledge of woodworking and metals, we knew this was just the thing to start a new career. He is a craftsman in the truest sense of the word, and this was the perfect opportunity to apply the skills he had developed through the years. And so Village Pewter and BOMH began for us. Donald was the craftsman, and I was the business manager. We like to joke that I am management and Donald is labor. Actually he lets me think I am in charge. It works for us. Since this simple beginning, Village Pewter has grown to a full time business for both of us and I am creating my own pewter designs, as well, working with Donald every day.
Our pewter items are made in three ways; by melting pewter alloy and casting it in molds, by hammering a flat piece of metal into a shape, and by turning on a lathe. We make our own molds and feel that our true art is not in repeating the form of the mold but in the design of the mold itself. The mold repeats the perfection or shortcomings of the original form. We make our casting molds from silicone rubber and the spinning molds are made from a hardwood such as maple or cherry. Village Pewter
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Life has a way of taking unexpected turns and by 1995, both our personal lives had changed and professional friendship and respect began to grow in a different direction. A chance encounter at an event at the University of Missouri Alumni Center was the beginning of a personal relationship that we are still exploring today. We were married in 2000.
Pewtersmithing is a very old craft. It came to America with the colonists and was a fundamental part of colonial life. The pewter designs that we create today remind us of these early designs. We love the simple, soft, subdued texture and color of pewter. 
Donald also spins pewter on the lathe from flat disks using very traditional spinning methods. He uses two wooden sticks, one under each arm, to move the metal against the form. One stick pushes the metal and one supports it so that it does not move too fast or unevenly. Of course things do not always go the way we want, so we do maintain a shelf of shame as a reminder of what can happen when things do not go well. 
