A Copper Alliance Member
Copper in the Arts
Meet Dave Jones of MADE
Dave Jones in his studio.Photograph by Paul David
Self-described as “riddled with training,” Jones has a BFA in Ceramics from Kutztown University. After his initial training he spent many summers at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and went to on to focus on jewelry and metalsmithing at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. He and his wife, Tess Doran, have recently opened their own shop called MADE in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
His talent showed long before his college years, however. His mother was an art therapist in St. Louis, and she fostered his interest. “When I was into single digits, I was into raku workshops, and went to her shows,” he remembers. “I got it from an early age.” Jones is constantly pressing forward with new ideas. His process is extremely tactile— meaning that most of his pieces result from getting into his studio and putting his hands to work. “I’m not a drawer or sketcher or model maker,” he says about his process. “I just go for it.” He also makes a lot of small pieces of jewelry, which are often conceptually sculptural, and sometimes serve as models for a larger version.
Revere copper sconce by Dave Jones.
Photograph courtesy of Dave Jones
He loves the idea that copper is largely a reused material: unless one procures it directly from the mine, the source of copper is from many smaller parts melted down over and over again. For that reason, his lighting design style is often sought after by commission from people who are diligent about using green methods to furnish their spaces. He’s currently working on five huge sconces of Revere copper that is expected to inhabit the “world’s greenest” house, home to venture capitalist Paul Holland and his wife Linda Yates. They're using environmentally regenerative materials for the structure, and the house will be fossil fuel free with a Platinum LEED rating.
Jones’ sconces are influenced by traditional Japanese architecture. “I love the whole idea of Japanese folk craft, the Mingei arts movement,” he says. “I like the warmth of the style.” He thinks copper reflects that style the best, but is quick to mention that he prefers to play with the oxidization of the metal. “I don’t really like shiny copper,” he explains. “I did a lot of forging and lots of the parts are held together with copper rivets, so the seal of the pieces is very warm, Asian opulence.”
In the near future he and his wife Tess are looking forward to teaching more, sharing their knowledge with the Washington Guild of Goldsmiths and possibly other establishments and universities. Now with small children of his own and a fondness for birds and animals in his art, he thinks if he could tackle any huge project it would be a playground.
“I’m not afraid to make anything,” he says.
Resources:
Dave Jones, MADE Shop, 277 W. Main St., Kutztown, PA, (484) 648-4150
Ozarklake Distinct Decor
Bill Merrit, at work in his studio.Photograph courtesy of Bill Merrit
Inspired by his wife's confidence, Merritt collected bottles, vases, gazing balls, decanters and other interesting glass for repurposing into vacuum hummingbird feeders and surrounded them with free-form frames of reclaimed copper wire.
"It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be,” recalls Merritt. “My first wire attempts weren't strong enough so I had to experiment with heavier gauges. It was difficult to get the stoppers to fit right, too. I knew if I could get a stopper to work properly, I could make a feeder," Merritt admitted.
Merritt's successful endeavors with copper have grown into a business. His process involves obtaining 30-gauge sheet copper from a supplier in Georgia. Using an ordinary scissors, he cuts out leaves freehand so no two are alike. He then hammers, forms, bends and crimps the copper with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Next, he loops, swirls and twists various gauges of recycled copper wire, usually bought from electronic or construction companies, to the hammered copper before soldering the joints. Strong #4 bare copper ground wire holds up the heaviest glass. When he designs tube hummingbird feeders, he winds the small glass tubes in and out of the copper coils, putting his two-station tube feeders on copper rods for easy placement in hanging baskets, window boxes or large patio plants.
FInished hummingbird feeder, with reclaimed copper wire.Photograph courtesy of Bill Merrit
Merritt's work has expanded to include Oriole feeders, some made entirely from copper. All contain a copper spike up the middle for attachment of orange slices, grapes or other fruit. He hammers out a copper bowl and adds his decorative twisted vines to create hanging baskets. These can be used as seed feeders for birds or as mud baths to attract butterflies to the garden. Featuring a central portion that is 1/2-inch copper pipe and fittings, his large glass birdbaths sit on a tripod copper base for stability. In response to popular demand, he recently designed sturdy, everlasting all-copper hangers.
"My shepherd's crooks carry my distinct look of copper vines and leaves, accented with glass beads," he says.
Merritt is proud to be a Best of Missouri Hands juried artist, and also received an honorable mention in the mixed media category at a recent art fair in Texas. He creates from his home workshop, where his wife, Terrie, does fine tuning and quality control of their productions and handles the business details. His work will soon be on display from August 20 to 22 at Festival of the Little Hills in St. Charles, Missouri, and at the American Craftsmen exhibition at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri from Sept. 11 to Oct. 30.
Resources:
The Rodin Museum and Garden Landscape Rejuvenation Project
Plans for the Rodin Museum Rejuvenation ProjectPhotograph courtesy of the Rodin Museum
“The Rodin Museum houses one of the world’s great collections of the artist’s work,” Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. “Restoring these key components of the Museum’s physical structure and reviving the natural beauty of its exterior landscape will have a lasting impact on residents of Philadelphia as well as visitors from around the world.”
Drawing on the blueprints and correspondence of building architect Paul Cret and landscape architect Jacques Gréber, the project retains key features of its formal Beaux-arts design, while renovating and upgrading circulation and lighting. The new planting plan for the interior courtyard garden and areas surrounding the museum are being implemented in close coordination with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. This work is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.
The Rodin Museum was originally the gift of movie theater magnate Jules Mastbaum (American, 1872–1926) to the city of Philadelphia, and contains some 120 works by the French artist. Mastbaum began collecting Rodin’s work in 1923 and within three years had assembled the largest collection of his works outside Paris, including bronze castings, plaster studies, drawings, prints, letters, and books.
Resources:
Native Trails: Elevating the Functional to High Art
Forming a copper sink.Photograph courtesy of Native Trails
Often the choices in kitchen and bathroom décor err to the ornamental side—countertops, cabinetry, flooring, or tile, leaving homeowners with few artistic choices for sinks, tubs, and vanities. The owners of Native Trails in California transcend this traditional view, offering fresh new looks for these functional pieces that are featured in more than 1200 showrooms across the country, all made with natural materials, using age-old techniques.
“There is a history in the copper, the material itself,” says Naomi Neilson Howard, CEO. “All of the copper that we work with is recycled. None of it is being mined directly for our products. It’s all living its second, third, or fourth life so there’s a lot of history in each piece that we produce.”
The majority of Native Trail’s copper uses comes from very modest sources.
“When I started the business in 1996, copper was one of many different materials and different types of artisans that we worked with,” Howard says. “Little by little, we started focusing more on one medium, and now we work primarily with copper. However, we also work with artisans in other products as well.”
The warm appeal of copper not only won over Howard’s heart but those of her customers. “Copper is just such a great material. The longevity of copper is one of the things I love about it,” she says. “The copper has been around the block a few times and it keeps its integrity over time...It’ll last longer than the house your living in probably.”
Howard still works with some of the same artisan families she began with fourteen years ago.
A finished copper sink.Photograph courtesy of Native Trails
Though the copper products have different finishes, one of the most popular is their tempered finish that doesn’t use acid washes. “The unique patina is created by taking the hot copper bowl when it’s finished and dunking it in cold water. The combination of heat and water, hot and cold, fire and water—that’s what creates the coloration on the Maestro vessels,” she says
Native Trails pushes the limits of their artisans. They have created unique bar sinks that are long and slim slits in a counter such as the Rio Grande or the Rio Chico or moon shaped like the Luna. They have also created a squared-edge sink for the bath called Tantra and an angled apron farmhouse sink called Zuma for the kitchen. They also make large freestanding copper bathtubs. All of these items are unique and not easy to produce with handcrafted techniques such as hammering using tools that the artisans often make themselves.
“Our products tend to be the focal point of whatever room they’re used in,” Howard says. And with good reason. Their products are works of art that have been finely handcrafted. Their hammered bathroom vessel bowls, in particular, are stunning.
“Our Maestro vessels are really outstanding. It takes about 30,000 hammer hits to make one of those bowls,” Howard says. The texture of the closely spaced hammer hits are so precise customers have challenged that they were made by hand. “People have tried to replicate that with machines, and it’s not at all the same look. So far it’s been impossible to recreate this with machines. It’s pretty amazing what our artisans are capable of.”
