A Copper Alliance Member
Copper in the Arts
Issue #72: April '13 - Cont'd
Racing to the Goal: The Bronze Expressions of Mike Tabor
Company Man, bronze sculptor, by Mike Tabor.
Photograph courtesy of Mike Tabor
“We didn’t have much of TV growing up so I lay on the floor copying cartoons,” he says. Naturally this third-generation Texan started drawing for cattle publications and ranch owners who wanted to memorialize their prize steers. That may sound like an inauspicious beginning into bronze sculpting, but it served Tabor well. He has created multiple bronze works of his own, all themed with a Western motif. In addition to drawing and sculpting he has been teaching at Granbury High School in Granbury, Texas for 21 years.
But it was his association John Hancock Insurance that moved his bronze sculpting into high gear. Tabor was asked to oversee a project already in development of creating and casting bronze awards for the top sellers in the insurance department. “I started doing national sales meeting awards and the top earners received bronze awards; a bucking horse, cowboys, all cast in bronze,” says Tabor. “When they touched the bronze, they knew it was special.” The awards were initially done in clay, then cast in bronze at Art Bryant Foundry in Azle Texas where Tabor does all his casting. “I oversee all of it, but I uses finishers and patina guys,” he admits. Once his bronzes are finished he prefers to wax his bronze.
Heritage, bronze sculptor, by Mike Tabor.
Photograph courtesy of Mike Tabor
“I wanted the Hoyt’s in action----this is a great story and a great struggle,” Tabor says. For the sculpture, Tabor had to recreate three bronze pieces, including the two men, and the cart. “For me the biggest challenge was building the cart (which he changed four times). I built it, took it apart, and re-built it.” The three pieces were then welded together, but in reality the bronze sculpture is made up of 27 different pieces from molds.
And with such a high profile piece, how does Tabor decide his work is complete? “You never finish bronze, you just abandon it,” Tabor says half-joking. “If I run out of things to correct then I assume I’m done.” He continues to teach, draw and cast bronze work. “Bronze has richness, a depth of quality that you can’t get from resin or any other material, it’s a true feeling. There’s absolutely nothing like bronze.”
Resources:
Mike Tabor, 5534 N Highway 144, Granbury, TX, (817) 578-1235
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West Coast Native American Inspirations Speak in Copper Jewelry
Wolf Pendant, Sue Coccia.
Photograph courtesy of Denise Woolard
Although the company originally began as the Joseph Mayer & Bros Inc, producing souvenir spoons, flatware, tableware and jewelry, Metal Arts Group has evolved to become one of the country’s leading producers of Americana-inspired jewelry.
Recently, they’ve seen a resurgence with their Native American jewelry line. In this particular line, Metal Arts Group captures the history, culture and ideologies of Native American people of the Northwest Coast and the First Nations through a series of handcrafted copper jewelry. Marketing and Sales Director, Denise Woolard says that about 50 percent of the company’s sales can be attributed to clients in Alaska, where their artists and consumers have a strong connection to the heritage and land beyond the most northward Canadian borders.
And with 25 years in the jewelry industry, Woolard says she appreciates the opportunity to learn about jewelry with such individualized history woven into it so that the educational aspects of the work are always pushing forward.
The majority of artists who contribute to the company’s jewelry reputation submit their designs through digital or mailed copies of work, but a small percentage of them do send in already partially prepared cuts of metal waiting for the final finishes by skilled craftsman and machinery at the Portland facility.
In addition to bracelets, earrings, pendants, rings, buckles, knives and dog tags in copper, some of the artists who are a part of Metal Arts Group also are known to create designs for bolo ties, hair barrettes, money clips and custom orders.
Council Grounds Bracelet, Barry Burger.
Photograph courtesy of Denise Woolard
Metal Arts Group sources its copper mostly from Alaskan Copper & Brass Company and Alaskan Copper Works based on the Northwest Coast.
The International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, and the Alaska Raptor Center headquartered in Sitka not far from Crescent Bay are two nonprofits in the group’s clientele lineup and sometimes reach out for jewelry purchases in planning for their fundraisers to support wildlife.
“Our artists are very responsive to the copper industry when I send out letters every few months,” Woolard says of the artists with whom she keeps in touch. “They’re definitely on board with the idea and like that it’s different.”
Woolard notes that artist Bill Helin who grew up in Prince Rupert, British Columbia—with his father having been a Tsimshian tribal chief, his grandfather serving as a chief of the Girlan Tribe and his grandmother as a chieftainess of the Gitgeese Tribe—is known for his three-dimensional jewelry beckoning of very striking detail finished in a sandblasted look instead of antiquing.
Pride, nectar of life, gentle strength, unity, eagle and orca whale designs are just some themes tied into the very durably completed jewelry that results from Helin’s artistic labors.
“The bolder and bigger sells more when it come to copper,” Woolard says of what she has noticed, estimating that around a quarter of Metal Arts Group’s annual sales are accounted for in copper jewelry orders.
Resources:
Metal Arts Group, P.O. Box 80727, Portland, OR, (800) 325-6958
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Cape Fear Copper Shop: Pure American Copper, Water Fired to Create Beautiful Artwork
Egret in Flight. Copper sculpture. This beautiful bird is
depicted shortly after taking off. Suspended from a
hook and thin stainless cable with a swivel (not shown
in photo) so he can bank and turn in the breeze.
Photograph courtesy of Cape Fear Coppershop
"Noticing how intrigued I was, D made me a copper butterfly garden stake for my birthday and I fell in love with it,” recalls Kendal. “A friend who owned a gift shop inspired us to produce more for sale. Using our attached garage as a workshop, we took our creations on the road, marketed wholesale to galleries and the business was born.”
Today, eleven years later, the Crews have a new detached studio with a fireproof floor constructed by D strictly for their copper work. Each individually crafted piece is created from hand made tools by the husband and wife duo. D's background in metalwork, engineering, design and graphics enables more complex artwork, while Kendall handles the majority of the gallery operations and finances. Both partners hammer, assemble and torch cut the copper.
"We use only the finest, purest (99.98%), heavy 16-ounce architectural grade American-made Revere Copper and all our work is stamped with the water fired copper trademark. And, yes, the famous revolutionary patriot founded the original company,” she says. “We buy from a local roofing supply warehouse in 100-pound rolls used for flashing. We tried inferior imported copper once. It was so full of impurities that we did not like the look. We struck a deal to always purchase the purest copper. When the highest quality copper is cut, it gives an incredible rainbow look.
Their hammering and chasing techniques produce depth and contour on even the simplest pieces of copper, giving each piece almost a 3-D look.
Lion Head. Copper sculpture.
Photograph courtesy of Cape Fear Coppershop
After much experimentation, they both have created their own unique methods to give their work it’s signature look.
"D recently made his own electrolysis machine where water is converted into hydrogen/oxygen gas to fuel a torch,” says Kendall. “We make it on site and water molecular reaction between the gas and copper produces the beautiful color as well as leaving a smooth, beaded edge of molten metal. We've tried bottled gases and propane, etc. but they don't come close and the metal looks dull. Once a green verdigris forms it protects the metal from further deterioration. We can accelerate this process by brushing on an acid solution and exposing it to a fine water mist, then blowing off clear areas with compressed air to prevent water spots. Some clear pieces/areas get coated with spar urethane because it is the most durable and UV resistant finish."
The Crewses produce a huge range of artwork often involving creatures of the sea. Some of the bird pieces, like the egret in flight, are suspended on a hook from a thin swivel cable so he can bank and turn in the breeze. Lifetime copper birdhouses will never rot or leak and last forever outside where they need a shady area but they can also decorate the inside of a house. Butterflies mounted on coiled copper stakes for lawn and garden gently sway in the breeze. Modifications and custom work can also be done.
Resources:
Cape Fear Copper Shop, Ramseur, NC, (866) 274-5712
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Copper in the Arts: NEWS
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art adds works by Warhol, Judd and Others to Collection - April 08, 2013
A 19-foot high Minimalist sculpture by Donald Judd, made of copper.
Photograph courtesy of Crystal Bridges Museum
“Donald Judd was a pioneering artist in the art movement that came to be known as Minimalism, in which artists reduced their sculptural forms to the most fundamental geometric shapes,” said Don Bacigalupi, President of Crystal Bridges. “These ‘primary structures’ were considered the most modern approach to sculpture in the 1960s, and had considerable influence on art thereafter. Our newly acquired Judd sculpture is both an extraordinary example of the artist’s pure geometric Minimalist forms, but also a dazzling and seductively beautiful work, with its brilliant red and bright shiny copper surfaces. Towering to 19 feet high, the work expands our notion of what sculpture can be and how we encounter it.”
These works will debut in the museum’s 20th-Century Art Gallery this month as part of a scheduled rotation of works on exhibit. Other works include a prints by icon Andy Warhol, a reinstallation of Mark Rothko’s No. 210/No. 211 (Orange), as well as the debut of Miriam Schapiro’s A Mayan Garden and Theodore Roszak’s 42nd Steet (Times Square), both acquired in 2012.
Resources:
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way, Bentonville AR, (479) 418-5700
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