Metalsmith Art

Artists Describing Their Art:

Jane Brucker - In the Lost Project, I continue to create large-scale installations and intimate artworks related by their preoccupation with spirituality and with death. Things fall apart; we lose buttons, keys, money, and relationships; resources disappear; we misplace papers and information; pictures and memories fade. Sometimes we find things too-but days, months, or years later, so that we have still lost time during the looking and waiting. I spend hours searching for a particular letter, or there are pieces of jewelry or other treasures in the bottom of a drawer or the back of my closet that I have misplaced or forgotten. Eventually, in death we lose our bodies. Life is cyclical, and mortality is unavoidable. In this way too, a powerful connection is created between aesthetic practice and the cycle of life. These pieces are all created from actual family heirlooms, cast in bronze and brass. Our eyes scan the patterns of these objects and our minds reconstruct and transform what is lost or hidden. While there are narrative passages from my own family related to some of the objects, the entire Lost Project invites the audience to relate to shared themes and stories. ...

John Searles - John Searles is a metal artist & sculptor with work in more than 2000 collections across the country, including hotels, businesses and homes. His experience includes working with aluminum, copper, bronze, steel and stainless steel. His body of work includes sculptures, metal weavings, metal art tiles, wall sculptures, photography, paintings and websites. The metal wall sculptures of John Searles reflect his enduring interests in mathematical patterns, design, movement, energy and freedom and are an expression of his on-going dialogue with the metals he works with - aluminum, steel, stainless steel, copper and bronze. John Searles' background in poetry, painting and photography has heavily influenced his focus on shape and design. At times his artwork appears to depict the fluid movements of a Kung Fu master, or the flight patterns of a bird catching insects in the summer evening air. Other times, the metal represents dancers intertwined. John Searles lives and works in a converted 5600 square foot factory on three acres of land near Lake Michigan. The front third of the building is a light-filled gallery. The back part is a tool- and work table-filled space with two garage doors and a view out over the property to the ...

John Searles - Paul Freeman - I am an artist working in ceramic and metal on a small scale of size. The works are lyrical and convey an interest in the benevolent character of human beings. The morality of the represented people conveys a feeling of pleasant engagement. I am inspired by people's everyday interactions, the good attitude that keeps society running. There is nothing that people of goodwill cannot resolve. I also paint and do computer art and have a degree in Master of Studio Art from Sydney College of the Arts (University of Sydney)....