Nanoose Bay blacksmith Dave Kasprick became interested in octopuses over the years he encountered them as a commercial fisherman, and lately he's started creating art in their likeness.

His latest commission is a lifelike sculpture of an octopus and he estimated it is approximately 36 inches wide.

B次元官网网址淚f you were to stretch the tentacles out it would probably be over seven feet,B次元官网网址� said Kasprick, who has been blacksmithing for about 17 years. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a pretty cool project.B次元官网网址�

He starts off by making all the suckers and over the course of making six or seven octopus sculptures (or various sizes), he's made quite a few.

B次元官网网址淚 knew there was gonna be a lot of them and I kind of dread it,B次元官网网址� Kasprick added. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e probably made a thousand of 'em.B次元官网网址�

Kasprick cuts plenty of "round stock", which he heats up and then uses his power hammer to squish them "like plasticine" into the desired shape.

Next it's onto the tentacles. He said he tries to keep the form light so he takes a two and a quarter-inch pipe and tapers it to a fine point at the end, before bending it so it resembles one of the cephalopod's eight appendages. The comes the lengthy process of attaching all those suckers.

Getting the octopus' head right is difficult. He uses a balloon to figure out how the mantle should look and how large it should be.

B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 the trickiest part, is the eyeballs, the placement and having the mantle roll over back onto its body, onto the back of the legs, so it doesnB次元官网网址檛 look like a cartoon character," Kasprick added. B次元官网网址淥ften a lot of octopus sculptures you see, theyB次元官网网址檙e really cool but they look a bit cartoon-ish.B次元官网网址�

He became interested in blacksmithing when he watched a farrier heating up metal for a horseshoe on his acreage and thought "I could do that". Kasprick was already interested in moulding clay from his time in art school.

B次元官网网址淲hen metalB次元官网网址檚 hot, it moves the same as plasticine or clay does B次元官网网址� and thatB次元官网网址檚 how it all kind of morphed into what I do now.B次元官网网址�

Kasprick owns and runs the Red Cod Forge. For more information on his work, visit his Facebook page .