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This fireplace screen nestles perfectly in its fireplace nook, inviting guests to fall under its spell...
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Leafing through a woodworking magazine, a wood tabletop with forged legs caught my client’s attention. He wanted to emulate this table. He would make the tabletop, and I would make the legs.
These table legs were originally designed by California-based blacksmith Daniel Dole. Although the table leg design was already established, there were still issues to be addressed for this particular project. I was recently commissioned to create original artwork in rooms which practically all conference attendees at a downtown Austin hotel will visit.
The artful objects: trash cans. The location: the conference room bathrooms. Yes, bathrooms! Azul, the rooftop pool bar at the Westin Austin Downtown, offers a 20th-floor view of the Austin skyline facing Lady Bird Lake.
Now incorporated into that view is a sleek steel-and-granite table which I’m pleased to have designed and installed. Incorporating beauty into everyday life is a lofty goal of mine. So when I found an absolutely gorgeous granite remnant, the challenge was on.
And that’s how a 12”-wide piece of stone -- a mere sliver -- was made into a functional coffee table. Tom, my client, wanted a metal and glass coffee table.
We discussed shapes, dimensions, glass thickness, and overall look. I showed my sketches to several members of a local artist-blacksmith group, including Dana Flanders. Based upon valuable feedback, I refined the bracing and connections for stability. Collaboration was an essential component in this project. Admittedly, I’d designed a complex piece incorporating traditional joinery (rivets and tenons) and multiple curves. Guitar pick garlands from ‘Succulent Tree’ were repurposed in this wall hanging, providing color and depth to a previously bland space.
'Succulent Tree' was a 5-tiered feast of succulents, twinkle lights, mosses, and guitar pick garland!
As the Westin’s official holiday tree for 2016, 'Succulent Tree' was on view through the month of December 2016. I attended a blacksmithing conference last week!
Salt Lake City's local NBC-affiliate produced a news article and 3-minute video for which I and fellow blacksmiths were interviewed.... At the conference, I spent most of my time assisting in the ‘Railing Project’ tent, managed by John Barron, where a forged railing was created and permanently installed as part of the workshop. Prior to the conference, a request was made for rings for the railing. As per the ring specs, I forge-welded a 7” outside-diameter ring from 1/4” x 1” flat bar, then created an original design for the interior of the ring -- in my case, a ‘stylized butterfly’ design. The client wanted a wall piece which evoked flowing water. In initial discussions, words she used were ‘ripple,’ ‘wave,’ and ‘undulate.’ Specifically, she wanted the water to flow from top left to bottom right.
To execute the client’s vision, I decided upon three forged shapes, to be produced in multiples. When combined in a variety of ways with each other, they indicate a directional flow. |
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