Circle of Fire
The animated cycle of a hammer blacksmiths blow.
This was the first engraved sawblade I made. My neighbor gave me an old sawmill blade. I have always loved doing designs on a circle, probably from my pottery background. My first attempt was to grind the design in very low relief. This ended quickly as the tool steel was so hard. I next tried brazing brass onto areas to color them. Also not an easy thing to do. I was familiar with heat colors or temper colors from making carving tools. When I saw the colors run on the bare steel as I tried the brazing process, it all came together. With a little experimenting a new technique for "painting" on steel was developed. Engraved steel sawblade. 52” diameter
At the Breathing Hole 3
A lone polar bear and an arctic fox watch stealthily as a seal rises under it's breathing hole in this layered steel and wood relief.
Engraved steel with heat colors, cottonwood.
Limited edition of 6
59" W x 57" H x 1.5" D
Fishing Bear with Sun
This large relief of fishing bear with the sun shining from behind was made in 1994 for a couple with a house in Blowing Rock, NC. It hangs over the stone mantle above a fireplace.
The house is sided with wormy chestnut bark shingles like so many others in the area. These are a reminder of the chestnut trees that were once prolific in the North Carolina mountains before the blight. There was a pile of leftover shingles in the shed and I was able to use them for the texture on the bear.
Maple, heat colored steel and wormy chestnut bark.
8’ H x 6’ W
Seal Moon Rising
This design aspires to convey the age-old patience of the hunter and the elusiveness of the seal. A man kneels near his kayak on a barren ice flow, patiently watching the water through a well-worn breathing hole.
Five seals surround him, four of them blend with the colors and textures of their background, giving them an ethereal and spirit like quality. The fifth, in the center, represents a living seal, warily watching, waiting in the depths below the ice. On the horizon, the moon rises, its light filling the sky and shining across the water. It’s surrounded by a subtle, halo type aura in the form of a seal mask.
The One That Got Away
Sometimes we need a little help from our friends. A weary salmon makes it past a fishing black bear who is conveniently distracted by Mr. Raven.
59” W x 43” H
Engraved Steel with Heat Tints
Fishing Bear and Raven
Fishing bear and raven in an Appalachian rhododendron thicket. Engraved steel with heat colors. Maple.
I made two versions of this relief. The design and the first copy were made on a deadline for a commission at Linville Ridge in North Carolina. It came together quite spontaneously. This photo is of the second one which I made for the owner of a lumber mill in Butler, TN. The design was drawn with some beautiful maple burl slabs in mind. The steel was cut with a plasma cutter and the edges flame finished for a natural melted edge. Then each piece was colored with oxidation colors or heat colors. The black on the bear and raven is a burned oil patina. The waterfall at the bottom is hammered into an S-curve that flows down over the wall or base. 7.5' H x 5.5' W x 12" D
Diving Gannets
A flock of gannets dives into the chilly Atlantic waters as they feed on schools of Atlantic mackerel.
Between the Tides
Engraved steel wall art depiction three salmon swimming in the ocean between the sun and moon.
The One That Got Away 2
Sometimes we need a little help from our friends. A weary salmon slips past a fishing black bear who is briefly glances up at a pesky Raven.
74” W x 48” H x 2.25" D
Engraved Steel with Heat Tints and Beetle Kill Spruce
At the Breathing Hole 3
A lone polar bear and an arctic fox watch stealthily as a seal rises under it's breathing hole in this layered steel and wood relief.
Engraved steel with heat colors, cottonwood.
Limited edition of 6
59" W x 57" H x 1.5" D
Diving Gannets
A flock of gannets dives into the chilly Atlantic waters as they feed on schools of Atlantic mackerel.
Unexpected Company
A happily breaching humpback whale interrupts a seagulls evening meal in this metal wall art print of my heat colored, layered steel and wood relief.
This is a good example of the type of metal wall art I make.
The grinding patterns and heat colors combine into a dynamic visual experience that changes subtly with your viewpoint.
Edition of 7 in various sizes.
2016
The One That Got Away 2
Sometimes we need a little help from our friends. A weary salmon slips past a fishing black bear who is briefly glances up at a pesky Raven.
74” W x 48” H x 2.25" D
Engraved Steel with Heat Tints and Beetle Kill Spruce
Fishing Bear on Rocks
A fishing black bear straddles the rocks above a swiftly flowing stream in this heat colored steel engraving.
Between the Tides
Engraved steel wall art depiction three salmon swimming in the ocean between the sun and moon.
Between the Tides
Engraved steel wall art depiction three salmon swimming in the ocean between the sun and moon.
Seal Moon Rising Dtl1
This design aspires to convey the age-old patience of the hunter and the elusiveness of the seal. A man kneels near his kayak on a barren ice flow, patiently watching the water through a well-worn breathing hole.
Five seals surround him, four of them blend with the colors and textures of their background, giving them an ethereal and spirit like quality. The fifth, in the center, represents a living seal, warily watching, waiting in the depths below the ice. On the horizon, the moon rises, its light filling the sky and shining across the water. It’s surrounded by a subtle, halo type aura in the form of a seal mask.
The Last Mammoth 2
Heat colored steel engraving of a lone mammoth stands on a ridge, silhouetted by the form of the fragment of. mammoth pelvic bone.
The Way of the Mammoth
43.5" x 83.5" Heat colored steel engraving with a reclaimed redwood frame. A lone mammoth gazes across a barren winter landscape into a late Pleistocene sunset in the watchful presence of its ancestors.
IMG_5097
Unexpected Company
A happily breaching humpback whale interrupts a seagulls evening meal in this heat tinted, layered steel and wood relief.
This is a good example of the type of metal wall art I make.
The grinding patterns and heat tints combine into a dynamic visual experience that changes subtly with your viewpoint.
Edition of 7 in various sizes.
2016
Through Your Spotting Scope
Circle of Fire
The animated cycle of a hammer blacksmiths blow.
This was the first engraved sawblade I made. My neighbor gave me an old sawmill blade. I have always loved doing designs on a circle, probably from my pottery background. My first attempt was to grind the design in very low relief. This ended quickly as the tool steel was so hard. I next tried brazing brass onto areas to color them. Also not an easy thing to do. I was familiar with heat colors or temper colors from making carving tools. When I saw the colors run on the bare steel as I tried the brazing process, it all came together. With a little experimenting a new technique for "painting" on steel was developed. Engraved steel sawblade. 52” diameter
Early Risers
Farmer plowing with his horse in the early morning moonlight.
When I first came up with this metal working technique, my neighbor had given me an old sawmill blade. I have always loved doing designs on a circle, probably from my pottery background. My first attempt was to grind the design in very low relief. This ended quickly as the tool steel was so hard. I next tried brazing brass onto areas to color them. Also not an easy thing to do. I was familiar with heat colors or temper colors from making carving tools. When I saw the colors run on the bare steel as I tried the brazing process, it all came together. With a little experimenting a new technique for "painting" on steel was developed.
This 48" dia. sawmill sawblade was engraved with grinding tools and colored with oxidation colors or heat colors, using a large torch. The work proceeds from hot to cold so as not to change areas that have already been colored. Edition of 6 available by custom order.
Fishing Bear with Sun
This large relief of fishing bear with the sun shining from behind was made in 1994 for a couple with a house in Blowing Rock, NC. It hangs over the stone mantle above a fireplace.
The house is sided with wormy chestnut bark shingles like so many others in the area. These are a reminder of the chestnut trees that were once prolific in the North Carolina mountains before the blight. There was a pile of leftover shingles in the shed and I was able to use them for the texture on the bear.
Maple, heat colored steel and wormy chestnut bark.
8’ H x 6’ W
G and G Lumber Sawblade
G & G Lumber sawmill scene. Engraved steel sawblade with heat colors.
This sawblade engraving of an old-time logging and sawmill scene was made on a working 54” diameter sawblade from the mill. Most of these I have done on older rusty blades and I for this one I had to rust it intentionally which gave it an interesting texture.
Hammer Man
"The ring of his hammer fades into blue,
hammer man’s finished,
sawblade is true."
Engraved steel sawblade with heat colors. When I lived in the North Carolina mountains, there was a sawmill over just about every hill. Someone had to true up the saw blades, an art in itself. This old man was one of the few who knew how to do this. He had a very interesting work station to support the sawblade, allowing him to turn it and position any spot over the anvil for peening.
Sneaking On By
Salmon Summer
Three salmon rest briefly in the shallow headwaters of a northern stream bed.
Engraved steel with heat colors.
33" L x 9" H x 2" D
At the Breathing Hole 2
A lone polar bear and an arctic fox watch stealthily as a seal rises under it's breathing hole in this layered steel and wood relief.
Engraved steel with heat colors, cottonwood.
Limited edition of 6
48"~ W x 48"~ H x 2" D
At the Breathing Hole 1
A lone polar bear and an arctic fox watch stealthily as a seal rises under it's breathing hole in this layered steel and wood relief.
Engraved steel with heat colors, cottonwood.
Limited edition of 6
61" W x 58.25" H x 2" D
Denali Table
With birch table frame.
Earth, Air, Fire and Water
Earth, air, fire and water; the resources of the smith.
Engraved steel sawblade of blacksmith in the forge. 36” diameter
Denali Table
Growing up in Fairbanks, Alaska, I spent a week each summer at Camp Denali visiting my friend Romany Wood. Camp Denali was then owned by our neighbors Ginny Wood and Celia Hunter. My father also spent many summers in Denali Park studying grizzly bears. I love the braided rivers and mountains and the chance to see the wild animals up close.
When I had a chance to do an engraved steel table for some folks in Fairbanks, I drew this design. The texture and direction of the marks from the various grinding tools catch the light in different ways. As you walk around the table, the light is reflected from constantly changing angles. On the mountains, the grinding marks are made in different directions depending on the angle of each face of the mountain. In this way, the reflections give the effect of three dimensions.
Engraved Steel with Heat Tints
40" diameter
Earth, Air, Fire, Water and the Blacksmith
Earth, air, fire and water; the resources of the blacksmith. A somewhat mystical representation of a blacksmith standing over his forge, contemplating the key elements of the craft.
Engraved steel saw blade colored with heat colors.
36” diameter
Humpback Heartstrings
A humpback whale breaches in front of a Mt. Augustine sunset in this heat colored, pierced steel and Baltic birch plywood relief.
52.5" high x 59" wide
Limited edition of 7 in various sizes.
2016
Mountain Stream
The rays of the sun break through the clouds over an Appalachian mountain trout stream.
Commissioned in 1999 for a home in Boone, NC, this 5.5’ H wall piece was cut from a large sheet of steel. After cutting, I slowly went around the edges with a torch to create a natural looking melted edge.
Salmon Stream Table
Lifecycle in salmon stream. Engraved steel with heat colors on cherry table.
Commissioned in 2003 by a friend in Fairbanks, this table began with two flitch cut cherry boards cut on the jig I had built for a Woodmizer bandsaw mill. It makes it possible to swivel a log with a fork or long curve so as to always keep it within the throat of the saw. See: Sawiing Curved Logs.
They became the banks of a salmon stream depicted in engraved steel and colored with heat colors. See Engraved Steel with Heat Tints. All stages of the salmon’s lifecycle are depicted. Signs of a bear and raven can be found in the banks.
9’ L x 3’ W
Sea Dragon
Made in 2004 to hang above the picture windows of a house overlooking Kachemak Bay, this pierced wall relief of a sea dragon frolicking in the waves is about 14’ long.
Weathered fir, brass and hammered stainless steel.
Seasons of the Sockeye
This engraved steel wall piece is colored with heat colors. It depicts the life cycle of the sockeye salmon in an Alaskan salmon stream. Two mature salmon lay spawning in the headwaters while emerging alevins head downstream. Teeming fry head towards the open ocean while a female salmon swims upstream and in the center rests the vague carcass of a spent salmon.
Shoun Lumber Engraved Steel Sawblade
This engraved steel sawblade is colored with heat colors. It was made for Shoun Lumber in Butler, TN and depicts three generations and the growth of the sawmill.
Summer Sailing
Sailing in the summer sun with a seagull and fish. Pierced steel wall sillohette. Made for a house in Statesville, NC in 1994, this silhouette is cut from 1/8” steel and mounted on the exterior wall of a lake house.
The One That Got Away
Sometimes we need a little help from our friends. A weary salmon makes it past a fishing black bear who is conveniently distracted by Mr. Raven.
59” W x 43” H
Engraved Steel with Heat Tints
Winter Wolves
This 48” diameter engraved sawblade was made for a couple in Wolf Laurel, NC in 1992. The circular design depicts a forest in winter with wolves and an owl among the snow covered trees.
Engraved steel sawblade with heat colors.
