Ben Holmquist was born in Salt Lake City, UT in 1982 and by the age of 6 had lived in 6 different states and countless cities and towns all over the New England area and the Midwest. His grandparents lived in Vermont on an idyllic farm where he was blessed with the opportunity to help with the maple syrup tap harvest and bottle feed lambs. His childhood was filled with wonderful outdoor experiences to include hiking, cross country skiing, and riding in his Grandfathers real one horse open sleigh. Fishing with Grandpa and baking with Grandma were among his favorite activities and helped shape him into the man he is today.
Once his family moved to Nebraska he learned the value of hard work through helping to restore the family home, an 1890 Victorian farmhouse, and working for the many farmers throughout southeastern Nebraska. His first job was castrating calves and walking cornfields and beanfields. After graduating high school he attended college to study culinary arts and soon after moved to coastal Maine to work as a cook and sailor.
Eventually he came back to Nebraska and started working as a heavy equipment operator building dams, roads and bridges. This work eventually led to welding and blacksmithing which he has done professionally for the last 12 years. He has welded in many environments, from the Alaskan oilfields to the Florida shrimp docks and in 2021 finally made the move to start his own business as a mobile welder, blacksmith, and artist.
“I want to build things that will be here 100 years from now, things that people pass down to their children. If I can add beauty and wonder to an already amazing world then I have really accomplished something great.”
