Go on to more details on these specific types...
	Weather Vanes Point to the wind...
	Mirrors Frame your reflection with forged beauty.
	Candelabras Lighting up your world.

			"Fire at Heart" was one of a limited number of new sculptural pieces I created in early summer of 2007. I decided this year to focus on producing a number of concept pieces to illustrate directions I had wanted to approach for some time as an artisan. The glass spear at the core of this piece was the original inspiration. It was formed by Toronto glass artist Catherine Vamvakas Lay. She had given me the piece to have a much simpler wall mount made for it. I was struck by its quality, and was driven to forge this fantastic plant form to hold it instead. The subtle colours within the glass suggested the washes of blue, green and yellow used on the metalwork. The piece was sold within hours of its first public display.
Overall View	Close up of Glass Core	Detail of Paintwork

"Feathered Rail" Original Concept Rough	Feather Headboard First Generation Design	"Sun Feather Bed" Final Design Layout

"Sun Feather Bed" was a project I undertook in 2006. The customer wanted a distinctive bed frame for a queen sized bed in her home in Lindsay ON. Originally looking over past work and the section 'On Custom Design' from this web site, she had already decided that the natural lines seen in other work was the kind of thing she wanted. The decorating taste in the rest of the house was almost Japanese - clean and uncluttered with limited pieces showing bold designs. For that reason what we worked up was not a traditional rectangular design, but one that used a spray of aggressively forged elements as the headboard. The thumbnail sketch I had made for a potential display railing that was never built (from 2005) was the starting point. A first run of potential designs was slightly reworked to the final layout chosen.

Forged Headboard before painting	Feather Headboard finished, showing coloured paint	Footboard showing leg bundles

The major elements making up the headboard were forged from 1 1/2 inch angle iron. The resulting shaped 'feather' has come to be one of my signature forms. One of the requirements of the customer was that the art work part of the design stand up about 12 inches above the level of the mattress top. In use a double line of pillows would rest there and she wanted the decorative work to remain visible above this. The forge work was finished with coloured paint, a very dark chocolate brown as the primary colour. This was highlighted inside the feathers with a wash of sprayed copper. At the foot of the bed there was no large head board. Instead the bundle of forged and wrapped tubes from the initial design was used to create the two legs, adding interest without detracting from the dramatic effect of the headboard.

"Celtic Spirits" Table / Bench	Celtic Artifact	"Wall Table"

This combination table or bench was created in summer of 2005. Continuing my interest in ancient artifact, the inspiration for this piece comes from the standing figures from a Celtic Iron Age object. The artifact was a bronze couch, supported by wheeled figures (shown in the middle image). Each of the four legs is an interpretation of the figures, rendered in forged tubing. The design is completed with tendril wrapped rods. The angle iron upper frame holds a cut piece of natural stone. The result is can be used either as a small table or bench - suitable for use indoors or out.

The second piece is a small wall mounted table, created in 2003. Again a stone slab forms the table surface. In this case the stone is polished smooth and finished with linseed oil. The lines of the supporting frame were inspired by the swirling lines inside the stone itself. Here the shapes are rendered in the Art Nouveau style in heavily forged bar and channel. I envisioned this table being mounted in an interior hall - or just outside by the door. Someplace to put the phone and car keys inside, or hold that tray of drinks while you get the door open!

"Copper Clock" This small wall mounted clock continues my work with forged copper. Here a piece of 1/8 inch thick copper plate has been worked hot. This both allows for drastic shaping of the surface, as well as distinctive texturing. This has been further enhanced by the application of a chemical patina. The clock mechanism is battery powered. Created specifically for the 'Traditions & Innovations' show in 2003. This item available! Interested? The asking price is $100

"Glass Hanger"	"Table Lamp" This item available! Interested? The asking price is $200	"Hall Table"

The first image is of an Art Nouveau styled hanger for a blown glass vase. I had picked up the vase from a glass artist years earlier. (This is an early piece - from the early 1990's) The individual rods that make up the hanger both change profile from flat to round, but also form reversal curve tendrils. This is one of my favourite small pieces and remains in my own collection.

The second piece is representative of a series of table, wall and ceiling lights I was making in the late 1990's. To avoid problems with safety codes, I worked with commercial fixtures, basically making new frames to hold the existing wiring and sockets. In this case a quartz halogen fixture has had its straight base replaced with a forged section of large diameter tubing. Stability is provided by two tendrils of 1/2" dia round rod that wrap around the upright. The whole piece is about three feet high.

The third piece is a narrow hall table created in 1999. I managed to lay my hands on some rough cut Paduk wood from Kenya. This wood is a red brown with a dark brown grain - about the same hardness as walnut. The pieces range from 12 to 18" wide, the top of this table is a single slab 14" wide and about five feet long. The base is fairly light, with three main supports made of 1" square tube and the tracery of 12 and 3/8' round rods.

"Wall Clock with Disks"	"Wall Clock"

I had wanted to expand my regular line of small decorative items to include a few larger items, away from the predictable line of candle holders. The first clock shown here was also the first of this type I made (9/97). The small clock face was ideal for bracketing in curved rods, plus allowed for freedom to add other decorative elements. After some research into sources, I decided to work with the larger clock face seen in the second piece (2/98), which I could get as a standard supply. Due to the size, the forged elements are less dominate.

"Long Bed Log Holder" This was a very large log holder created as a custom order (1/92). The requirement was for an object that would hold 'a half face cord' of wood. The resulting log holder has a bed that is four feet long, and stands about two feet high. The bed surface is made of sheet brass. This proved to be more of a functional item, with the primary decorative element being the twisted and interlaced rods on each end.

		These two items show the potential of forged steel as a flexible decorative material. The "Old Wolf Broach" (1990) is a modern variation on the ancient penanular type, and was made as one of a matched pair. Despite it's small size (about 2 1/2"), it uses a large number of individual techniques. It is often MORE difficult to work on this small scale, as it is hard to localize the heated area to control the effects! The punched Dragon Head (8/91) also uses a number of forming steps. This piece was inspired by a pair of Celtic Iron Age fire dogs found in Wales. It forms one end of a long toasting fork. I have not worked very much with 3-D punching, a technique that also exploits the 'plastic' nature of the hot metal.
"Old Wolf Broach"	"Dragon Head Fork"