Introduction to Metal Arts

Artspan Metal Arts

Metalworking is a term that applies to everything from industrial projects to the most precise flourishes on a piece of metal art. The range of tools and techniques and their corresponding metals is vast and its beginnings predate recorded history. Steel and bronze are popular with metal artists however, gold is the only metal that arrives in nature whole unto itself. All other metals must be extracted by smelting an ore with heat or other arduous processes. Finally, it stands alone, ready to be made into something new.

Metalworking processes usually fall under the umbrella actions of forming, cutting, and joining the metal. There are so many types of metals to work with and techniques to apply that metalworkers can define their style in a variety of ways. Some metalworkers use lost wax casting to form small organic materials into metal jewelry. Others employ a new direct-metal printing method. Still others choose to cut steel, and that's just the short list.

One particular artist who makes large metal oragami sculptures first sketches a model on paper and then marks the metal where it will be cut into pieces. The pieces of metal are heated with a blow torch then shaped with a hammer against an anvil. After cutting, she forces the pieces together with oxyacetaline welding--just one of a variety of options. This is called "welding": heating a metal rod to another piece of metal so that they fuse together and form a permanent bond. Finally, she takes the pieces to be professionally galvanized. They are purified and dipped in zinc, the chemical reaction coating the metal and making it noncorosive.

A metal sculpture can be a commanding thing and can present a heavy, imposing image. Yet many artisans choose to shape soft curves into the solid metal, sometimes worked so delicately that then can recreate the texture of cloth or the contours of a human face.

Artspan Metal Arts Directory

Go to the Artspan Metal Arts Directory.
There are also 26 different Photographer category Directories.

Some examples are:

Abstract Metal Arts Directory
Figurative Metal Arts Directory

Bronze Directory
Iron Directory

A complete list of Metal Arts and other Directories is found here.


Resources

Art Supplierssee all

San Francisco, CA and Bruxelles, Belgium
Barry Denton
Used anvils, post vices and tools 928-442-3290 P. O. Box 25 Tonto Rd. Skull Valley, AZ 86339
Tools & blacksmithing supplies
PO Box 1267 Galesburg, IL 61402-1267 Toll-free 800-828-4548 Fax 800-621.8293
An Industrial Metal Supply Company
Goodyear, AZ
Ltd.Tools and Supplies, books and videos.
Freeway Metals
New and used steel, flats, plate, tube, pipe and stuff. 602-254-4994 1810 S. 19 Ave. Phoenix, AZ
HiTemp Metals
Source for surplus and new: stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass, specialty steel and exotic...
Seligman, AZ

Educationsee all

Glenside, PA
BFA in Art, concentration in Metals and Jewelry
San Francisco, CA and Oakland, CA
Boston, MA
Waltham, MA
Established in 1998 and located in Waltham, Massachusetts, Metalwerx offers...
Fish Creek, WI
Fish Creek, WI
University Park, PA
Iowa City, IA
BFA, MA, MFA in Jewelry and Metal Arts
Buffalo, NY
MFA in Visual Studies

Foundriessee all

Rock Tavern, NY
Alpine, UT
20 years of fine art casting experience, quality workmanship, exquisite patinas,...
Osceola, WI
Brewster, N.Y.
Tempe, AZ
Loveland, CO
Art Castings of Colorado has been casting exceptional bronze artwork since 1972...
Berkeley, CA
Among the world's premier foundries for precision production and restoration of...
Docklands, London E14 8AP
Cannon Beach, OR
Entering its thirteenth year, Bronze Coast Gallery has become one of the...
Mercerville, NJ
Established to assist creatively and technically the emerging and...

Galleriessee all

Tempe, Arizona
Art In Metal's owners Lyle London and Shannon Owen have been creating...
Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, B.W.I.
Joseph, OR
They specialize in Bronze Sculpture, but have something for everyone in the store.
Scottsdale, AZ
Tasmania, Australia
The Tasmanian Copper & Metal Art Gallery has been in operation for over...
Harbert, MI
The Jill Underhill Gallery is a destination for contemporary sculpture, fine art...

Galleries - Cont.see all

Cleveland, OH

Museumssee all

Tempe, AZ
Norfolk, Virginia
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Denver, CO
Odessa, Texas
Ukiah, CA
Worcester, MA
(not in English)
Memphis, TN
La Conner, WA

Bookssee all

The carved and painted figures collected in this exceptional book are excellent examples of a...
At the end of the nineteenth century, W rttembergische MetallwarenFabrik, or the W rtemberg...
As the founding of the Roycroft art community in New York State reaches its one hundredth...
In this book, ten leading artists teach their specialty, with clarity, care, and passion....
In this book, ten leading artists teach their specialty, with clarity, care, and passion....
Over the past three decades, sculpture has retaken its position at the forefront of contemporary...

Associationssee all

This is a cybervillage for metalsmiths and those interested in their work. You can get advice on...
Knoxville, TN
Blacksmithing, the cornerstone of all crafts for centuries, has come back to...
Berkeley, CA
California, is among the nation's leading foundries for the production and...
Glasgow, UK
A nonprofit organization that strives to offer opportunity, camaraderie, and technical support to...
San Francisco, CA
Ethical Metalsmiths was formed for the purpose of stimulating demand for...
Haysville, KS
Houston, TX
Crothersville, IN
The Indiana Blacksmithing Association was incorporated as a not for profit...
Broussard, LA
You don't have to be a blacksmith or a coppersmith or a whitesmith or any...

Metal Arts Portal - Resources for Collectors & Metal Artists