A Copper Alliance Member
Copper in the Arts
Issue #8: December '07
Copper Keepsakes to Make your Holiday Shimmer
Ireland Brass Ornament
New York City Brass Holiday Ornament
Photographs courtesy of Tom Pollard Designs
Tom Pollard, from Tom Pollard Designs, offers custom brass ornaments created through a unique process involving a thin, polished plate of brass coated with light-sensitive film. A picture of the ornament is printed on this film, and the exposed parts develop a film layer that’s inserted into certain acid solutions. The plate is submerged in an acid-bath, which etches the unexposed areas away. The process is done in stages, so surface details are added to the ornament by repeating the actions with different exposures. The brass is either gold plated or pad printed, a special process that adds color. Pollard didn’t have formal training and never attended school to learn the brass/copper business—he has a natural talent.
“I’m a photographer and merchant, and I’ve done postcards and photo related things for forty years,” he explains. “In 1988, someone asked me if I knew how to create an ornament. It took me a year, but I finished it. I realized, very quickly, that if I wanted to continue doing this type of work that people truly mattered. I’d have to surround myself with the right team. The best ornament I’ve ever created was when I made a deal with a lady named Sue Douglas. I asked her to do artwork for me, and she asked, ‘Why should I?’ I told her, ‘Sue, if you come to work with me I’ll always have a project for you. Three years later, after picking up a job and leaving her apartment, I didn’t have a project. I’d usually pick one up and dropped off another. As I walked towards the door to leave, she asked me about the next job. It was imperative that I think of something very quickly. I told her to do something for Ireland, and that’s how my nationality series started. That particular Irish piece is my favorite one. I’ve been lucky with situations, and finding the right people and working with them. I don’t actually manufacture, but deal with people and companies in the USA.”
All of Pollard’s specialized brass ornaments make unique gifts for any occasion. His commemorative designs are magnificent works of art and manufactured to the most demanding specifications, perfect for custom Christmas ornaments as well as a specialized group of brass Christmas ornaments in different series that include; lighthouses, occupations, cities, towns and states, Pennsylvania Series, 3-Dimensional ornaments, Redneck and Bikers, Amish, Animals, Nationalities—the list is endless. And, it doesn’t end at Christmas. They always have more than 100 collectible stock ornaments that can be used all year round, or, their customers can design a special one.
“Our occupation series make great gifts for teachers, EMS workers, nurses, postal service workers, firemen, crossing guards, and school bus driver, among others,” says Pollard. “Our lighthouses include Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, Absecon Light, Atlantic City, Brandt Point Light, in Nantucket, Mass., Cape Henry Lighthouse, Virginia, Ocracoke, Hatteras, Bodie Light and more, in North Carolina.”
Pollard’s amazing selection also includes his nationality series, filled with incredible ornaments from Israel, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Germany, England, Greece, and other countries.
“This year I’ve included a new photo-frame series,” he explains. “They’re all themed pieces for anyone on your list – hockey and soccer players, graduates, cheerleaders and more. I even created an ‘I love my cat or dog’ photo frame, which makes perfect gifts all year round.”
Brass Menorah by artist Joe Spoon
Photograph courtesy of Joe Spoon
“The one that I sell was designed ten years ago and it’s one of the more complicated pieces that I create,” explains Spoon. “It contains many parts and lots of solder joints, because I fabricate all of my work, rather than using a casting process. This is a brass alloy that contains 60 percent copper, which I purchase from Copper and Brass Sales, in Chicago, Illinois. The menorah is done in my own style of art nouveau, and contains nine candleholders. I reproduce the same design, but, on the other hand, no two are exactly alike. They’re available at a splattering of galleries across the country and Judaic shops. The Cooper Shop, a gift shop at the Jewish Museum of New York City, carries my menorahs, and I sell my work at the Buyer’s Market of American Crafts, in the Philadelphia Convention Center, twice a year, usually February and August. February’s show is the largest craft event in the USA.”
Spoon also creates gorgeous ceremonial Kiddush cups, as well as an assortment of elegant, utilitarian tableware, serving pieces, gourmet cooking items, cocktail or iced tea spoons in brass and sterling silver, short and tall single taper candle holders, and even a candle snuffer in brass boasting a brass or copper cone. Each piece is individually created in America and uses this master craftsman’s traditions to form function items. He signs and dates every piece, which becomes his personal guarantee that attention to details is first and foremost in his work.
Baldwin Brass Tree Topper
Photograph courtesy of Wolfe's Baldwin
Brass Company
And, who better than Wolfe's Baldwin Brass Company, in Malvern, PA, to provide brass tree toppers, stars and angels? Their philosophy stems from the belief that the items that sit on your tree should have all the quality, brilliance and rich dimensions of the lives it chronicles.
The company was started by Ann Marie Gillinger’s parents, who are now retired, but she continues the family legacy. They employ approximately eight employees and have a showroom, in Pennsylvania, where customers can come in and browse.
Brass Santa Ornament
Photograph courtesy of Wolfe's Baldwin Brass Company
Instead of hanging a garland or wreath to signify the holiday, try something a little more avant guarde – wreaths and angels hand-crafted in copper by Peter Goebel, from Goose Bay Workshops, a family run business, in Bridgeville, DE. Goebel, a master coppersmith, makes every copper, tin and brass piece by hand. Although the business began with period lighting, it’s now expanded and includes cookware, writing implements, folk art, pans, skillets, kettles and so much more.
If you’d like to order copper wreaths, they offer an antiqued copper wreath, with large, medium and small sizes available, as well as a hanging hook on the back
Peter Goebel Copper Wreath
Photograph provided by Goose Bay Workshops
According to Goebel, wreaths are a nice departure from his normal work of providing historic reproductions for museums, movies and re-enactors.
No matter which holiday decoration you purchase this year, take a break from the original green tree and wreath, and astound your guests with copper!
Also in this Issue:
- EVENTS:
A listing of upcoming events in the arts featuring copper and related materials, or highlighting artisans who work with the materials.
