Charlie Brown Tree

This is what I saw when I walked into the kitchen this morning:

Mark had finished the Charlie Brown Christmas tree!

How fun is this?

Mark made the ornament out of copper.

(I'll get some better shots later when the sun is out...)

Manley Metal Works

Steel and copper Charlie Brown tree

Mark's show

Opening night:

Thursday, November 12th, 6 - 9 pm

Twilight Artist Collective

4306 SW Alaska Street

Seattle, Washington

One of Mark's decorative metal sculptures is featured in this show.

Click here for other images from the show.

No watering necessary

Mark's latest ~

Steel and copper countertop Christmas tree.

Gallery piece

Mark finished his piece for an upcoming  

group show featuring Northwest blacksmiths.

Nifty, eh?

Twilight Artist Collective

4306 SW Alaska Street

Seattle, Washington

November 12th through December 4, 2009

Mark's shop

Last winter, the blacksmith shop was a little too cold to work in, even with the forge running constantly. Mark decided to build a wood stove for supplemental heat. Most people buy, Mark builds.

In progress...

with decorative details.

He's currently working on a wall sculpture 

for a gallery show in Washington...

details are vague, but I see textured lattice being formed

and leaves

and flowers being forged...

this is going to be cool!

Random shots from the shop

Custom light covers

Mark made custom light covers for a new house

in nearby Sisters, Oregon

The lights are up light/down light fixtures...pretty cool at night.

Commissioned art

Mark's latest work...

a mix of stained glass & wrought iron

Bye-bye ugly white plastic thermostat cover!

Nifty!

Website

I created a website for Mark's business today.



Manley Metal Works is online!

Installed artwork

Remember this?


Here it is installed on the deck railing in Michigan. Pretty cool!

Light covers

Mark is in the process of making light fixture covers for this house. There will be three by the garage doors, and two by the front door.


The fixtures have two bulbs, one facing up, one facing down. This metal piece will hang in front of the bulbs casting an uplight and a downlight.


Detail of the texture and copper rivet:

Peacock panel

Mark just completed this peacock panel for a deck railing. It will get a powder coat finish on it this week (matte black...so the shiny spots won't show) and then it is off to Michigan.



The panel will be installed in a space where the standard metal pickets were too short (hence the idea for the custom panel) due to a step down to a lower elevation of the deck.

Iron shadows

Evening in the kitchen: the overhead light casts shadows on Mark's wrought iron grape branch.


Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday. See other pictures here.

All finished

All the finished sample handles for the custom cabinet shop. Ready to ship off tomorrow. The top handle shows samples of two different leaf options: customers will be able to order either ginkgo or laurel.

Latest from the blacksmith shop

Detail of ginkgo handle for the custom cabinet shop

Laurel detail

Verdigris finish available on copper birdhouses found in Mark's Etsy shop

Handles

This is frustrating. This picture won't load horizontally. This is a refrigerator drawer handle...for the freezer drawer at the bottom of certain refrigerators. Pretend it's horizontal, ok? Mark made this for the custom cabinet shop's display.

These are the decorative bolts Mark made to go with it...

Iron basket

I wanted some height for a corner, so we designed this iron basket and filled it with moss and curly willow. And, because everyone always asks, yes...Mark made the base of the basket, too.

Mark wove the iron pieces of the basket and riveted them to the top ring.

Ginkgo

Image from here

A living fossil...that's one way the Ginkgo is described. A tree that has been around since dinosaurs roamed the earth...fascinating.

Image from here

Mark is working on a new design featuring Ginkgo leaves...a peek:

Forging

Mark spent part of the weekend working on an order for a custom cabinet shop...handles for the showroom so clients can see ironwork on display rather than in a portfolio.

the propane forge
the artist at work
some pieces for the handles based on this piece of decorative trim
how the finished handles will look, installed on a wood paneled refrigerator

Variety

Day two of shamelessly promoting my hubby's artwork.

Mark works in a wide range of styles as seen here in this custom wood box he designed and made a few years ago.


© Manley Metal Works

“The paynefull smith with force of feruent heat,
the hardest yron soone doth mollify:
that with his heauy sledge he can it beat,
and fashion to what he it list apply.”
- Edmund Spenser

Mark's work

Mark's away at a blacksmith conference which got me thinking about some of his hand-forged ironwork.

This acanthus scroll is an end to a drapery rod:

as is this leaf cluster:

This is an installed drapery rod with custom bracket in a client's home:

Some metalsmiths buy ready-made stamped leaves, tack weld them to a metal rod and call it art. Mark hand forges his pieces. Each detail is shaped by heat, hammer, strength and artistry.

“In other part stood one who, at the forge
Labouring, two massy clods of iron and brass
Had melted.”
- John Milton