John Searles: Original, Vibrant, Abstract Metal Sculptures
By Nancy Ballou
Copper embossed tiles using varied patinas.
Photograph courtesy of John Searles.
John Searles was always fascinated with shapes, colors and puzzles. He studied chemistry, obtained a Bachelor's from the University of Missouri and attended art school. After converting a 5,600 square foot factory building on three acres into a living/working place in Harbert, Michigan, with a gallery of artwork inspired by nature, he concentrated on the permanent medium of metals, which he refers to as a celebration of the human spirit.
"Copper is a wonderful metal. It is easy to cut, shape, solder, braze, paint or lacquer,” he says. “I was initially drawn to its inherent warmth, as well as being a great way to develop skills for working with metals in general. It can be bent or transformed into a hard metal with hammering. It can be turned on a lathe or melted. Primarily what I love about copper for my metal art wall tiles, sculptures and woven weavings is the range of natural colors.”
He also loves experimenting with different patinas, which help create his signature look.
“My patina techniques include chemical acids and bases, fluxes, flames and fire,” he says. “With chemicals, I can get a variety of colors and my torch develops bright, beautiful arrays by varying flame temperature. Patinas develop over time and create a look different from paint or glaze. I use chemicals as if painting an abstract. Because I love the soft golden tone of silicon bronze which is 95% copper, I purchase it from Atlas Metal in Denver. I get my copper from Chris Industries in Joliet, IL. Permanent and lightweight, both are great in sunlight and outdoors," Searles explains. "I am also working a lot with stainless steel and aluminum these days."
His imaginative thoughts/designs have led him to become expert in metal fabrication techniques. His flat metal art tiles are block form with a bottom layer of thin under-die, then oversize copper tile which he trims later. They are often attached to masonite, a steel plate, then utilize a hydraulic press to emboss his handmade designs. Virtually waterproof, they can also be used for flooring. Multi-tiled wall art comes in a striking rainbow of colors and is attached with Liquid Nails or a similarly constructed cohesive. "I use both hot and cold connections in my techniques," Searles says.
Copper embossed tiles using varied patinas.
Photograph courtesy of John Searles.
Some of the multi-layered metal art wall sculptures, like rotating triangles, have a beautiful sense of movement. Some are like flowers, opening in the center. "I use special hooks when installing these to create the illusion they are floating on the wall. Open designs are built from individual pieces so the wall and shadows cast by lighting can be seen."
Weavings include wavy or straight strips, circle spiral copper and straight patinated copper strips woven with wire to simulate waterfalls. They are brazed on the back and sometimes on the front, then mounted on copper pipe frames making it easy to attach D-rings or picture wire.
2012 was a very productive and profitable year for Searles. "I did a large aluminum sculpture for Bethesda Hospital in Boynton Beach, FL,” he says. “There are two large red sculptures at Sacred Heart Academy in Atherton, CA, two for Florida East Coast Realty and one at BLT Architects in Philadelphia, Camarata Masonry in Houston, Jupiter Holdings in Phoenix, NSF in Ann Arbor and various private collections in FL, IN, CA, NY and MI." He also completed a large private stainless steel sculpture garden for Boca Raton, FL in 2013. He has received numerous awards and is currently working on new designs for Art Prize, along with various corporate sculpture projects.
Resources:
John Searles, 13462 Red Arrow Highway, Harbert, MI, (269) 469-1509
Dan Wisner grew up surrounded by jewelers. It was a profession in which he seemed destined to pursue given his family history in the field.
“My mother was a jeweler when I was younger and my brother was a designer,” Wisner says. “I did two apprenticeships, each for four years starting when I was 11.”
At the age of 15 he sold his first piece and has been making and selling his jewelry designs ever since.
Now age 20, the Kutztown University junior with a major in Fine Arts and a craft concentration, has spread his wings in a new artistic pursuit of working with copper.
“I met Kiln at the craft show and fell in love with their work,” he says.
Kiln, known for their signature copper-enamel creations, took Wisner on as a summer intern last year where he learned how to spin copper to make bowls.
“I am extremely thankful to James Leritz and Elissa Ehlin from Kiln,” Wisner says of Kiln’s founders. “They have shaped me so much in terms of art and the process of making things.”
While his work initially was heavily influenced by Kiln, he feels he is now starting to come into his own.
“I’ve been working at incorporating solid colors into my compositions. I’m trying to think more of the bowl as a painter’s canvas,” he says. “From there, melting the copper or adding different metals to the bowl and going into it with a hammer and forming it by hand.”
Wisner is also greatly inspired by the elements, and tries to reproduce the colors and textures of natural environments.
“I have a specific concept when I do my work,” he says. “I’m trying to recreate the bottom of the sea right now.”
Wisner describes the process he goes about when making bowls he currently sells at
juried craft shows.
Spun copper enameled bowl by Dan Wisner.
Photograph courtesy of Dan Wisner.
“You start from a flat sheet of copper and then you cut it into a circle and you put it into a lathe,” he says. “You spin it at about 600 rpm and you spread the metal over a wooden form.”
The process of spinning enables you to spread and stretch the copper.
“It is used mostly for industrial techniques today,” he says.
He starts on the backside of his pieces for the enameling process, and applies a high-fired temperature to achieve his signature look.
“The process consists of applying really thin layers of enamel,” he says. “One piece may involve sixteen firings at 1,500 degrees. The enamel will react with the copper to create different colors.”
While Wisner has used copper in making jewelry in the past, he now has a newfound respect for it.
“It is one of the only metals that you can enamel onto,” he says. “It is taking these two non-precious mediums and then creating something that is considered a precious, artistic display."
Resources:
Dan Wisner Discussing His Techniques of Working With Copper
Leslie Neidig Designs: Folding Copper Into Unique Jewelry
By Nancy Ballou
Copper fold-formed bracelet.
Photograph courtesy of Leslie Neidig.
When fold forming copper artist Leslie Neidig first began make her art, she never imagined her love of jewelry design would grow into such a thriving business. "I started making jewelry as gifts,” she recalls. “Eventually, people started asking me to create things for them. They were my inspiration. It snowballed into a small business."
Today, she produces her eclectic, nature-inspired handmade copper jewelry for clients and customers of all sizes out of her downtown Louisville, KY studio in the city’s thriving NuLu district.
"Currently, copper is my favorite medium to work with,” she says. “I love the way the flame of the torch brings out the color. I get my copper either recycled from different people who donate it to me or from Rio. First, I heat the metal so it's easy to bend. I bend the metal and hammer it. Then I heat it again. This process continues until I get the shape I want. Most of the time, what I see in my mind's eye isn't the end result. The metal is the boss in this relationship."
The first Friday of every month, Louisville holds The Trolley Hop. It's an art show, tourist attraction and overall street party held downtown 5 pm to 11 pm, rain or shine. The galleries close around 9:00 pm, but the trolley runs until 11:00 pm. Metalsmithing techniques can be viewed at the studio.
"For the Trolley Hop, I would do demonstrations with my 10-ton press or my torch or both,” she says. “The measuring, sawing, filing and sanding are as interesting to people to watch.”
During her demonstrations, passers-by can watch Neidig handcraft her popular copper Statement Necklaces, featuring flowers hand formed out of copper. Each piece begins as a 12" x 6" copper sheet.
Copper fold-formed necklace.
Photograph courtesy of Leslie Neidig.
"I run the metal through my rolling mill for texture,” she says. “Then, I draw the shape and saw it out, filing and sanding the rough edges. Often, I press a spiral, petal or leaf design into the metal.”
Next, she fine tunes the shape, before incorporating her signature color treatment.
“I use various fold forming techniques, then anneal the metal with my torch and also use the torch to bring out different colors,” says Neidig. “An example is my copper pendant hydrangea really brings out the violet, purple and blue colors. I also ball up both ends of the copper wire and leave extra to add a curl. I like to use beads and gemstones in my creations, too."
With a busy schedule set for 2013, viewers can find Neidig's work at Studio Gallery on Shelby Street and at Consider Boutique on Bardstown Road in Louisville, and at select shows across the region.
Resources:
Leslie Neidig Designs, 207 S. Shelby St., Louisville, KY
Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui on view at Brooklyn Museum - March 04, 2013
El Anatsui, Red Block, 2010. Aluminum and copper wire.
Photograph courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, NY.
The first solo exhibition in a New York museum by metal artist El Anatsui will be on view through Aug. 4 at the Brooklyn Museum. Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui will feature more than 30 large-scale works in copper, metal and wood that transform appropriated objects into site-specific sculptures. Anatsui converts found materials into a new type of media that lies between the bounds of sculpture and painting. In so doing, he combines aesthetic traditions from his birth country Ghana, his home in Nsukka, Nigeria, and the global history of abstraction. His works can take on radically new shapes with each installation. Anatsui gives curators and designers the opportunity to install his art in ways that make use of their particular exhibition space, highlighting the intricacy of each piece. Included in the exhibition are twelve recent monumental wall and floor sculptures, including Gli (Wall), 2010, and Earth’s Skin, 2009, which are widely considered to represent the apex of Anatsui’s career.
Gravity and Grace explores the many historical connections between Africa, Europe, and the Americas in a wholly new, African medium. The exhibition also includes wall reliefs of interchangeable wooden pieces, such as Amewo (People), 1998/2010, which reference the artist’s earlier work in wood and bear compositional relationships to the large metal pieces. Anatsui’s alchemical transformation of discarded materials raises pressing issues of global consumerism and highlights the blurring of geographic identities.
El Anatsui’s work is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museum Kunstpalast, and the de Young Museum. He participated in the Venice Biennale in 1990 and 2007, to considerable global acclaim. A version of Gravity and Grace toured Japan in 2010 to 2011 under a different title.
Resources:
The Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Pkwy, New York, NY, (718) 638-5000
Copper fold-formed bracelet.
Copper fold-formed necklace.
