Reclaimed!
For April, SmartShop presents artists who have dug through the trash, scaled heaps at the scrap yard and picked up the overlooked along the way for RECLAIMED: Functional fine art from reclaimed, reused and recycled materials.
Liz Dean started with a pile of warped, charred and stained wood. While replacing a friend's roof, Liz could not let the planks from the old roof go to waste. The wood, stained and maimed from a fire and a tough life, was beautiful, she said. Later, her neighborhood flooded and water-logged wood flowed into her backyard. Gathering the debris, she set to work creating three elegant tables--"Mamma's Cabin" a large dining size table, "Morning Coffee" a coffee table, and "Scrap Book" an end table.
"After weeks of turning burnt warped wood into a sturdy new table, there is nothing like sitting down to a cup of coffee with an old friend at a treasure constructed with love and hard work," Liz said.
RECLAIMED is about turning trash into treasure. Most people enjoy buying new things, the smell of a new car, the shimmer of a polished refrigerator or the dominance of a 72 inch television. But as wallets thin during these straining times, the artists at SmartShop have found ways to take what we have, take what we have thrown away, and transform it. The pieces, both beautiful and inspiring, remind us to look around and take in our surroundings.
Jay Prosch-Jensen did it with rusted scrap metal. Forging and cutting, he manipulated large and unsightly sheets into turtles, butterflies and the moon. Liz Faust found a new way to forge old metal, turning a collection of Civil War-era silver spoons into history-bending pendants. Jennifer Ellis let Lake Michigan have its way with pieces of glass before she collected the glass fragments and fashioned beautiful jewelry.
The work of these artists and work by SmartShop's cadre of interns will be on display and for sale all month. Also in April, SmartShop will debut the work of emerging blacksmith Dylan Deglopper and jewelry designer Nikky Kelly. According to Dylan, Holly Fisher, the executive director of SmartShop Metal Arts Center, approached him one day, asked him if he wanted to weld, and he has not stopped since, biting at every opportunity to hammer and weld.
Many of the artists will be roaming the gallery and shop on April 3 from 6 to 11 p.m. during the Art Hop. Come at 6:30 and watch a live chain mail demonstration from artist Alex Drummer. Alex will give the demonstration in costume and provide step-by-step instructions on working with chain mail. Also this April, do not miss the two-day knife forging workshop on April 25 and 26. Work with artist Holly Fisher to forge and grind a one-piece knife from high carbon steel. More information on the workshop is available at smartshopkalamazoo.com. And bring in the whole family on April 25 for family day. From noon to 4 p.m. there will be guided tours of SmartShop's metalworking and blacksmithing shop, free art activities, demonstrations and treats for artists of all ages.
SmartShop Metal Arts Center is a non-profit blacksmithing and metalworking school, studio and gallery. Founded in 2002 by Executive Director Holly Fisher, the center's mission is to support, teach, practice and promote the metal arts to foster personal, interpersonal and community growth. SmartShop offers blacksmithing, welding and metalworking classes for novice to experienced artists, displays the work of regional artists in its gallery, and boasts a garden that is as beautiful as it is fun. The gallery, at 516 E. North Street in Kalamazoo, Mich., is open from noon to 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.