The Regancy Row Homes will look spectacular; and soon!

So as you know from my previous post, Kyle Crews contacted us recently about making new awnings, doors, and lanterns for the front entrances of the Regancy Row Homes at the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas.  And if I may say so myself, designing everything was truly a fun experience; we had a large group of minds sitting around our showroom table throwing out ideas for the project.  Our group even included architect Richard Drummond Davis, with whom I had the pleasure of working in the past of course.  After several hours of discussions, drawings and re-drawings, we finally decided on the designs and they are beautiful!  I can't wait to see everything up... we already started on all of the pieces.  Here is a sneak peak at the table lay-out of work in progress; a wrought iron door panel detail Richard designed.  I hope you like it.

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

Pine Cone Tree Stair Rail

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One of our clients lives amongst the piney woods and wanted to bring the outside into her home.  I designed this pine cone tree railing especially for her.  

The newell post looks like a tree trunk with the tree roots "growing" around the bottom stair tread.  Each pine cone, needle, and tree branch texture is wrought iron; hand forged of course.

The detail in this design is impecable; to the left is a photo of a section of the railing about two third's way finished.  As you can see, every single layer is made piece by piece and then welded together to make a pine cone or needle.  Each pine cone has its own personality; some are closed, some open, some are larger, some smaller.  This section was made so that we could show the client all the little details we were proposing; we ended up not using almost all of them in the actual railing.

I  love it when we get a client who is thinking outside of the norm; it's so much fun to come up with unusual metalwork designs.  Based on this design, we also ended up making a tree-like chandelier, as well as a three-tiered, 10' tall fandelier.  It's amazing how one thing inspires you to push the design further and dream up a brand new concept which is then fulfilled in wrought iron, brass, copper or aluminum.

© All Rights Reserved

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

Wrought Iron Window Wall

Lately I have been asked by a few interior designers if we can make windows... Of course we can!  As long as it's designed in metal, we can custom forge anything your heart desires.  I like the feeling of the window below; it takes up the entire kitchen wall, creating a fresh feeling of being outdoors.

Wrought iron window-wall for a Dallas, Texas private residence.

If you feel like dropping by, we are actually right in the middle of making an entire store front for a restaurant in Houston, Texas.  The project includes the windows as well as the doors.

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

Contemporary Podium: Textured Metal

Check out the podium I designed for Jonathan Wayne.  John was inspired by the Hebrew letter Ayin, and wanted to somehow translate it into a more contemporary version which would become the podium for the new Baylor Hospital in Dallas.  I drew up the design and then made a mockup in clay as it was actually a pretty hard concept to wrap anyone's head around via 3D.  With a little re-design, I think it would make a really cool table base too... one leg on each end?  Ohhh... a conference table!

Our Potter Art Metal Studios artisans did a fabulous job recreating the small clay mockup, all the way down to the fine flowing curves.  We also forged our own texture, which as always, added extra depth to the piece.

The new Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center at Dallas opened to the public on Saturday, March 26, 2011.

You should also check out John's other work... he comes up with some of the most amazing glass pieces you've ever seen.  The Baylor Healing Garden contains a beautiful contemporary structure called Glass Falls.  I just love the colorful sheets of glass... they make me think of ice blocks washed over with cascading water.

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

10' Wrought Iron Chandelier

still in raw form;
waiting on finish work.
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As far as functional art goes, this 10' tall chandelier made at Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas, with a fan inside the bottom ring, takes the cake.  I designed it for one of our clients who already had an idea as to what she wanted.  All I had to do is put it on paper and she ordered it.  Her project was waiting in line to get started on.

Meanwhile, we made a tree-like chandelier with pine cones and needles, as well as a stair rail for another client.  When she came in and saw the chandelier we had hanging in our showroom, she absolutely fell in love with it.  There was only one problem... she needed a fan for her room and was completely disappointed that she could not have this particular piece in her home.

I told her not to worry, and explained what I wanted to do in order to fit everything she wanted and still make everything look like a beautiful piece of art.  She was skeptical at first, but I said that I really thought she would love it and that I wanted a chance to put it on paper before she dismissed the idea entirely.  She agreed and I drew up the design.  A little sparkle of "Wow, you're kidding me" appeared in her eye and we started on the chandelier.

Every single detail on this fixture is hand forged.  Each pine cone layer, each needle, and even the pine branch texture which is so life-like that you might think it's the real thing... all the way to the lovely chain design.  This is THE homeowner's conversation piece and any interior designer's dream.  

This is what the final piece looks like.  I am so happy that she didn't scratch the project, because it is truly a piece I wanted to tackle and I am very proud of it.  We all are.

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

Wrought Iron Drive Gates

Richard Potter and Izabela Wojcik.  ©All Rights Reserved

Oh yea! Potter Art Metal Studios does it right!

I designed these gates for one of our clients who loves the feel of Gothic architecture.  He actually owns more of a Country English style home, but we all decided that no matter how beautiful they might be Mr. Loftus just wouldn't be happy with the feel of that particular style.  So I gave him the feel of Gothic, but softened it up just enough to fit the look of the home he owns.  It turned out gorgeous, and was a total pleasure to work on.  We are now working on matching gas lanterns for the front columns and a longer version at the front door; I'll post a few pics as soon as we put them up.

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

Fish Head Swimming Pool Spouts

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From what I've heard, it's mighty hard to find a nice bronze swimming pool or fountain spout.  I sculpted these for one of our interior designers.  If you can't find it, have it custom made, right?

***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com

Henry the Tortoise

Check out Henry!  I have a few photos and made a mini-video of him so that you can see him from just about all the sides and angles.

First the skeleton, then the body, shaping, re-shaping, sculpting, re-sculpting, changing my mind as to what he should look like, pulling off head and re-sculpting again, finally, adding skin and texture to the turtle.

The second phase is to make a mold and a mother mold (to hold the rubber mold in place), which then will be used to cast the wax pieces from.

The third phase is to pull the waxes out of this mold and chase them out (get them ready for investing.)

After that the foundry will make an investment (another mold,) which will be used to melt the wax pieces out, leaving a negative; that's where the hot liquefied bronze will go and after cooling down it will become a solid metal piece again.

The next phase is to break up the investment, weld all the bronze pieces back together, clean it all up and put the texture back to where the weld marks are and polish the bronze out.

Finally, I put on a nice patina on the bronze sculpture and you will have a very awesome work of art.

Oh, and you may find this interesting... to make this sculpture, I needed the following materials:

Wood, a few screws, Styrofoam, hard foam, 200lb of clay...(That's almost 300lb of weight for the sculpture itself)

Then, lets add about 90lb of rubber for the mold, and approximately 500lb, or so, of plaster/reinforcement fiber mix),  40lb of wax plus a few other things, for a grand total of over 900lbs of STUFF for the process before the bronze...

...and onto the actual finished piece: 400 lbs of bronze...

Japanese Character Panels

These were fun to do...  I actually had to study up a bit on Kanji characters, and trust me... they're not easy to do; I do hope I did them justice.

This is pre-interior design; I thought I had a picture with the entire room all decorated... maybe I'll find it one of these days.

The client wanted these panels to be very specific.  I designed and painted them according to his wishes.  Hope you like them:)

Faux Bronze Bathroom Tile?

Why, yes.  It is possible!

Bronze, of course, is the way to go if you can afford it.  The translucent quality of the material is amazing!  Plus, there is always a difference with faux vs. the real thing; no matter how good the forgery.

If you are looking for something on a smaller budget however, resin is the way to go.  I made this "bronze tile" for the bathroom a little bit ago, and everyone always comments on it.  All it took was a little bit of creativity with clay, a little bit of mold making and there you have it.

A lot of time you simply can't find that special piece you're looking for, or it's in the wrong size.  That's when custom artwork comes into play.  Plus, custom art is a nice way of having something different for your home... something no one else has.  You can do it yourself or find a local artist to help you out.  It's a great way to get inspired and creative.  Really! I know.

Discover Resin Art

I love this resin "painting" I made for a contemporary home.  It looks so deep and vibrant at a first glance, but the closer you get to it, the more depth is revealed.  It's one of these things you can get literally get lost in.

The stainless steel frame is attached to the bottom of the stair treads and swivels around 360 degrees so you can reposition the piece however you prefer.

Resin is a really fun medium to work with and you can get super creative with it.  I recently sculpted a fish head for one of Kathy and Lee Hatcher's clients, via Potter Art Metal, which is currently serving as a bronze swimming pool spout.  (quite a few of them actually; all around the giant swimming pool of the beautiful Spanish style home.) Anyway, before they were cast in bronze, I sculpted the fish head, made a silicone mold for it and poured resin into the mold... it turned out looking really cool in that resin alone.  

Check out the depth of the piece (I should mention that I had a really bad phone camera when I took the photos, which flattens things out a bit, but you get the idea:)