The Mayor of Ballard is a dog named Odin. It follows then that the Ambassador of Ballard must be his human owner, David Tuthill.

Tuthill is a blacksmith. He knows the streets and buildings of Ballard like the burns on the backs his hands. He can recall a time when Norwegian language was yelled in taverns and softly spoken in bakeries. Tuthill is also an archer, a bassist, an avid outdoorsmen and a father.

These are all things that one might picture the ambassador of an old fishing village to be, and a young filmmaker has attempted to capture his story. In his attempt to tell Tuthill’s story, an account of a community was shared.

Tuthill is the subject of a new film called “Mayor of Ballard” that centers on how working and living in Ballard has changed over the past decades through the eyes of an artisan. The name of the film is derived from Tuthill’s Malamute-mixed breed, Odin, who is known as the Mayor of Ballard because of his striking recognizable wolf-like appearance and laid back, friendly demeanor that has made him popular with the locals.

Titus Richard was inspired to make the six-minute documentary after he met Tuthill while he was working near Tuthill’s shop in the industrial area of Ballard. He said that he was fascinated by Tuthill’s passion for blacksmithing and unique connection to the community.

Tuthill has worked as a blacksmith for 26 years and has had a shop in Ballard for the last 18 years. He takes on all types of jobs including architectural projects and steel fixtures. He appreciates Scandinavian design for its simplicity and closeness to natural form.

Tuthill also makes knives. He starts with raw steel and heats it to over 2000 degrees, then pounds the malleable material into shape; The process is meticulous and is a back and forth between heating steel and shaping it with a hammer. Tuthill said that every strike of the hammer shows up in the finished work.

“Burns are just part of the job,” said Tuthill.

Tuthill’s hands and arms are marked with white scars from burns and each one is like the strike of the hammer, telling a story.

In the film Tuthill is shown crafting a axe from raw steel. The film moves to a culminating end scene showing Tuthill going through the process of forging an axe while discussing the passion he has for blacksmithing and how the craft connects him to the past.

Each knife is marked with Tuthill’s symbol and fitted in a hand stitched heavy leather sheath. Tuthill also teaches blacksmithing in courses where students can make knives of their own.

“It came to me that he epitomizes the blue collar industrial working man and what I’ve always really loved about Ballard. He has definitely been a part of the Ballard community for so long and made me think of how Ballard used to be, ” said Richard.

The film documents Tuthill’s experience living in Ballard and working as a blacksmith. The opening scene shows Tuthill looking over Ballard from the rooftop of his shop. It sets a tone of introspection that permeates the film. Tuthill narrates the documentary and discusses his life and work as iconic scenes of Ballard are shown. The film moves to discuss how Ballard has changed dramatically aesthetically and culturally from development.

“Ballard, it has such an amazing history, and also Ballard breaks my heart. … A lot of Ballard’s soul has been lost,” Tuthill says in the film.

Tuthill goes on to discuss how the people that made the community that made it so special are being “priced out.” Tuthill said how rent prices are increasing and spaces at an affordable rate for artisans like him are becoming scarce. He said that he has considered moving out of the city to find more affordable rent but that he would leave his customers behind -- a kind of doubled edged sword.

Initially Richard set out to make a film about modern blacksmithing, but through his conversations with Tuthill during the making of the film, the subject changed from Tuthill’s craft to how Ballard has “lost its soul.”

“It started out centered around modern blacksmithing, but David took it to what he had on his heart. The changes he talks about are not in a negative light but more in a broken-hearted way, not in a preachy way,” said Richard.

Richard shared that after living out of state for seven years he looked to move to Ballard. He said that Ballard looked unrecognizable to him, and also found out that the housing was market extremely competitive. He and his family ended up moving to Renton.

“I had my heart set on Ballard and literally it was impossible to find a place, or at least a place that was reasonably priced. It’s just insane. I didn’t realize it would be that way.”

“It just feel different. It feels like the community that was there is being pushed out. A lot of people who made these neighborhoods what they are leaving and it just changes things.”

The film moves to a culminating end scene showing Tuthill going through the process of forging an axe while discussing the passion he has for blacksmithing and how the craft connects him to the past.

“I think the scene shows him in his element. He gets lost when he’s doing it. Visually I think it’s beautiful and shows an amazing craft that’s been around for so long and how each strike of each piece tells a story.”

The film is set to premiere Sept. 24 at the NW Film Forum at 8 p.m. and will be available online after the showing.

For more information about David Tuthill’s blacksmithing visit http://davidtuthillmetals.com