Paul Angiolillo is a blacksmith based in Star Valley, Wyoming. He honed his blacksmithing skills as a farrier, working for ranches in Montana and Wyoming. His passion for the forge sought more creative outlets, so he began making carbon steel pans and cooking accessories. Independent Ironware was born in a horse trailer and evolved in a barn. Paul’s cookware is built for the memories that matter in a kitchen or around a fire – great food, better company, and quality conversations.
This series from KÜHL goes beyond getting to know an artist's work and inspiration. We dive deeper into their origin stories and struggles to learn how they cope with failure, critics, and success, yet still find time to do the things they love. Born in the mountains, raised in the workshop—these are their stories.
Your kids won’t inherit your smartphone. You won’t be passing down your flatscreen TV. And yeah, no matter how much you love your new IKEA bookshelf, your kids probably won’t.
Paul’s cookware, on the other hand, won’t be going anywhere soon. Forged by hand in the Star Valley between the Salt River Range in western Wyoming and the Webster Range in eastern Idaho, Paul’s cooking pans and kitchen accessories only get better with age. His tools, techniques – even his trade – are a bold step towards a slow, intentional and methodical pace of a craftsman who knows exactly what he wants and how he wants it.
Paul grew up on the East coast, but skiing brought him west. He went to Farrier school at Montana State University in Bozeman in 2013. There he learned the necessary blacksmithing skills to make horseshoes as well as how to clean, trim and shape a horse’s hooves.
Farriers don’t just make the horseshoes, they make all the tools they need to practice their trade. Historically, blacksmithing was the king of trades. No matter what you did – cobbled shoes, baked bread or pulled teeth – everyone needed a blacksmith. As technology phased out much of their necessity, shoeing horses was one of the few needs that kept the forge alive.
But even today, blacksmithing is an outdated trade. The techniques are ancient, and there are few shortcuts to the traditional process. But that’s what Paul loves about it.
He works with carbon steel, which offers the ideal strength, durability and malleability for his work. The tools and techniques to coax it into its final form requires sweat, passion, patience, and sometimes a broken cheek bone and nose (yeah, really).
Paul has always admired well made goods, and if his name is going to be on something, it better uphold his standards. He likes one-time purchases, things made to last. Cooking with something beautiful adds to the visual stimulus; it can enhance the experience or in some cases become the experience.
Paul’s cookware is brought to life on the fringe of the prairie, where distant mountain peaks loom in the distance. The resonance of his anvil ricochets off of tractors getting serviced, cattle grazing in the distance and weather systems building on the horizon.
After spending several years working on ranches in Montana and Wyoming as a farrier, Paul realized he wanted to do something more with the skills he learned in the forge. With a love of food and cooking, the kitchen seemed like the best place to start.
Paul converted an old horse trailer to begin making pans. For Paul, these had to be perfect. But not necessarily perfect in the eyes of a farrier, whose goal is to make a perfect horseshoe without blemishes.
Paul blended his high standard for perfection that made him a great farrier with his craftsman’s aesthetic. His work has a unique texture and character that can’t be found in the aisle at Walmart. It was hard for him to pull away from the type of perfection sought for horseshoes, but this texture not seen on his horseshoes is what makes Paul’s products stand out.
He spent months perfecting the process and design for all of his work. Every pan that arrives to his anvil – gleaming red and glowing orange – gets the same attention to detail.
The pan business was a side hustle. When the owners of the ranch where he was working as a farrier saw his craft, they offered to clear out some shop space in a pole-barn for Paul. More then two and a half years later, Paul remains, hammering away, as he makes pans, kitchen accessories and more with one goal – to make things that last.
You don’t need to look far to find out where or how Paul found the courage to open up a business making handmade pans with old tools, older techniques and ancient chemistry.
Paul’s family came to America from Italy, and they brought the invaluable traditions that surround food in their culture with them. His great-grandma made ends meet when they arrived to America by selling homemade mozzarella cheese. This allowed them to survive during the great Depression and instilled a deep sense of connection, gratitude, and reverence for food, hard work and ingenuity.
Paul hammers this tradition into everything he makes. To him, it is the food, the memories and the flavors that surround it, that are worth celebrating in our age of hyper convenience, instant gratification and plastic wrapped experiences. For his pans to help with that connection is a privilege that means a lot to him.
When Paul isn’t in the forge, he’s probably skiing. With Jackson Hole Mountain Resort a short drive away and the backcountry down the road – skiing provides him the clarity and space he needs to disconnect, entering the same flow state when he‘s swinging a hammer – “tuning in to tune out,” as he describes it.
Although he doesn’t like to define himself as a creative, he is most certainly a craftsman, and his cookware is an expression of time spent trying to make something better, more durable and as a result better looking, despite the obstacles.
Moving forward, Paul has no plans but to hold course. He wants to ski more, live in the moment and glance up at the mountains from his shop door while he hones his craft with a heart of gratitude.
As for the skeptics? “Don’t worry about them,” says Paul, “If you know what you want to do, do it.” Simple advice, from a wise man.
Just like KÜHL, Paul’s moral compass is guided by a strong desire to create things that last and never settling for anything less.
Gifts that last a lifetime are more meaningful. The recipient remembers your kind gesture every time they use it for the rest of their life and beyond. Grab a pan for yourself or for a loved one on Paul’s website or keep up with Paul and his forge on Instagram; @independent_ironware.
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