Dave and I view our business as an extension of who we are, so it only makes sense that we extend our passion for sustainability to the work we do.  Cobalt Designworks contributes to the health and well-being of Mother Earth in a myriad of ways:

• Our heirloom-quality architectural metalworks will last for generations.
• Metal is one of the most recycled materials on earth.  Steel has the ability to be re-used or recycled repeatedly without degradation in quality.
• For color and protection we use a powder coat process which lacks the solvents and toxicity of many other paints.
• Our work commute is a 30-foot walk from home to studio (we love this!)
• We minimize our driving by combining errands and by walking or biking to nearby places.
• One of our main work vehicles is powered by bio-diesel & gets >35 mpg.
• Our annual waste from the fab shop fits in two 32-gallon pails.
• We have a rooftop hot water solar panel.
• We harvest rainwater from our roofs (275 gallon capacity)
• We buy as local as possible as much as possible. 
• We built our studio with many green features:
  • FSC-certified lumber (Forest Stewardship Council)
  • Open cell foam insulation
  • Hydronic radiant floor heating
  • Double-paned fiberglass windows
  • Reclaimed and modified solid wood doors
  • Deconstruction of the previous old garage and reuse of salvagable material; recycling of remainder
  • High efficiency lighting
  • Flyash concrete
  • No and low VOC paints
• Our cell phone service is with Credo Mobile, which donates to non-profits supporting environmental causes.
• Our VISA card is from Working Assets, which also donates to non-profits promoting a sustainable and just world.
• Jennifer is volunteer chairwoman of the Vancouver Watersheds Council, a non-profit dedicated to mobilizing the community to protect and enhance the natural environment of Vancouver watersheds.
• Plus all the seemingly small stuff that adds up: vigilant recycling, organic landscaping, using recycled paper & office products, double-sided printing, and more.

Cobalt Designworks, leading by example.

Just one of the benefits of doing custom metal work is the wide variety of cool projects that come our way. 
Our friend Russell is the master baker behind “Russell’s Breads“.  He makes beautiful artisan loaves like these:

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Many of you have been keeping up with our driveway gate project  for owners of a new lavender farm in Woodinville, WA (Woodinville Lavender).  We recently installed it and wanted to share pictures of the final work of art. 

The steel frame is powder coated with a faux rust color texture. The steel panels have an “antique black” chemical patina.

The gate doors swing open smoothly using a motorized gate system.

The owners will be doing their own rock & morter work to build three stone pillars that will complete the picture.  We will post photos as soon as they finish the work.  Right now they’re busy pulling weeds and planting lavender!

This photo shows the massiveness of the piece; it took some creative thinking and careful planning to efficiently navigate around our studio space. 

The patina process for the panels was challenging given the large surface area, but we are happy with the end result; rich & varied colors and random consistency. 

At some point you need the oxidation to stop so we dusted the panels with baking soda to neutralize the chemicals. 

Here are the slick, freshly oxidized panels.

The making of the lavender sprigs was the artful part of the process and after testing several techniques to achieve a realistic lavender look, Dave opted to make the buds by layering bronze pieces that were laboriously cut, formed and drilled.

To get an antique gold finish, Dave used another patina process using both chemicals and heat. 

Stay tuned for more photos when the rock work is completed.  We learned a lot from this project and are ready to create another artistic driveway gate.  Call us if you are interested in your own eye-catching entrance way.

Back in February of 2009 we received an exciting email that started like this: 

Dear Jennifer & Dave:  Congratulations!  You have been chosen as one of the artists in the Sculptures on Pacific Avenue Project in Bremerton, Washington!

This kind of news is music to the ear of any artist trying to make it in the public art world.  We had entered a call-for-artists from the Bremerton Arts Commission for seven sculptures to be placed along their main downtown corridor as part of the city’s forward-thinking revitalization plan.  They ended up choosing 3 artists/teams, and specifically asked Dave and me to create a pedestrian-scale version of our sculpture Despite the Rain.

The original sculpture stands just 18 inches tall and is made from bronze sheet metal. I decided to make the Bremerton version out of steel & stainless steel, and to add color to the umbrella and puddle:

14 months later we have finally started fabrication!  Public art takes a great deal of patience for all involved, and we spent the year planning, negotiating contracts and waiting, waiting, waiting.  There were several times I worried the project might get cancelled due to budget cuts.  Nearly all city municipalities have made cuts throughout this recession, and unfortunatly many mistakenly see art as low hanging fruit.  I applaud the Bremerton Arts Commission for working hard to keep this project alive.  And a big thank you to Pam Byknonen who is our contact and a joy to work with. 

Here are some in-process shots to date:

This is the first of several blog posts about this project.  Stay tuned for more!

We recently created and installed this simple metal deck railing for clients in NE Portland. 

Simple yes, but unique & stunning still the same due to the creativity of our clients.  They wanted to add an assortment of handmade colored glass tiles to the railing but didn’t know quite how.  After talking through some ideas we decided on a 4″ x 4″ mesh railing pattern.  Dave would then create metal bezels to hold the tiles in place; positions dictated by client. 

Here is Dave’s initial mock-up of the bezel, which turned out to be an effective design:

The glass tiles can then be easily secured into place with silicon after the finished railing is installed.

Placing glass tile into metal bezel.

Close-up of glass tiles.

This project came at the tail end of a complete house renovation that was part of Portland’s Tour of Remodeled Homes.  The clients have a vision of a whimsical garden in which to relax & entertain, so as they & their landscapers were quickly finishing the backyard for the tour, we were working diligently on our end to build the railing.  The railing was finished with a grey/beige textured powder coat that complements the window & house trim colors quite nicely.

If you are interested in a similar style ornamental metal railing, please give us a call.  360.281.5619

Patrick Gracewood’s designs and sculptures have always enchanted me with their beauty.  He captures images from the natural world simply & evocatively.  These images turn up in his bas relief, fine art sculpture and architectural restorations.  Patrick’s versatility as an artist awes me, and I hope that one day some of his designs will “grace” our own ornamental metal work in some way. 

Below I highlight some of Patrick’s work, but you can find lots more at his website Gracewood Studio.  He also writes a wonderful blog, Shadows on Stone, focused on sculpture in all forms of all nature.  Here you can get a real feel for Patrick’s artistic expression — he writes as passionately as he creates visual art. 

Patrick’s studio is located in Portland, Oregon. 

One of my favorite series, The Nature of Water.  These two specific pieces are from the Desert Quartet.

Gracewood has many botanical designs in bas-relief, cast in either bronze or stone.

And who wouldn’t love these cast bronze bears to adorn an outdoor water fountain?

A glimpse of what’s going on in the shop these days — a driveway gate & walk-through gate for clients who run a lavender farm in Woodinville, Washington.   As they prepare to open their farm to the public they need a stout & eye-catching driveway gate to 1) attract, impress & spark curiosity as people drive by along the busy road in front of their property, and 2) keep the public away from their property during non-business hours.

The basic design, without artistic components, looks like this: 

The  panels will be variegated black, achieved via a chemical patina process, and the frames will be finished with a textured rust powder coat.   

The really fun part will be adding the artistic elements – realistic looking lavender bunches that pop out from the black panels.  Stay tuned for how we create these sprigs in bronze.

Walk-through gate frame.

Ornamental Metal Driveway Gate in process (1 of 2)

More later as the work continues.  Come back and see!

Now comes the fun part.  I get to take the laser cut steel panels I showed you in the previous post and begin to form them into their intended shape.  When we built the first Shapely I chose to construct an internal armature to support the 16 gauge shell (shown in the next two pictures) . 

Since Shapely and Shapely Two are intended for outdoor venues I want to ensure they can comfortably handle several people climbing on it as well as in-climate weather conditions. That armature worked well on Shapely but this time I decided to approach the structural requirements differently.  I am making the lower section out of 11 gauge (0.120″) instead of 16 gauge (0.060″)  material for several reasons.

• Shapely Two has  a much more, shall I say, svelte look, making it challenging to fit an armature inside.
• I was so happy with the rigidity of the box construction provided on the first Shapely that I am confident the added thickness will provide plenty of structure
• best of all, it simplifies construction.

There are no flat surfaces on Shapely Two. A characteristic of virtually all of Jennifer’s work.  Each side has varying degrees of curvature.  Some are small enough that I can easily position them using blocks,  clamps or just by pushing.

Others will require more aggressive forming to obtain the proper shape.  Since I have yet to acquire a slip roller, I use this low tech bender for shaping the sheets. It is effective but I have to be careful not to put kinks in the panels.

Before I start bending each panel I need to establish the  line it will curve along.  Once that line has been drawn I add perpendicular lines every few inches.  I align these perpendicular lines to the axis of the tube I am bending the sheet around.  Skipping this step would risk putting unwanted twist in the panel.

Here you can see how two of the panels are fitting up.  The closer I can get them to match without clamps the easier they are to tack together.  Minor gaps can be adjusted out during tacking and final welding.  

Another view of the fit up between the sides. The section closest to the camera will be pushed into position during tacking.

Once I am reasonably happy with the fit it is time to tack the panels together.  To ensure that the base will be ”square” I fixture the panels on the top of the work bench and true everything up.  You can’t have too many clamps. 

Tacks are small welds that temporarily lock the panels together but can be easily broken or cut if necessary.  I place tacks every 6″ to 12″ depending upon the curve.  The tighter the radius the closer the tacks are together. 

I am also paring the tacks so that any shrinkage at one  tack is counterbalanced by a tack on the other side of the panel.  This helps keep things from moving around. In the next picture all 4 sides are tacked together.  Now I will set this piece aside while I tack the mating section together.  Then I’ll come back and fit up the top plate (which must match the mating section) and install the bottom mounting plate.

I’ll cover that in the next post.

Our young son has always been a creative gift giver (a trait he must have gotten from his dad). The idea behind his new line of gifts started last year when he wanted to make something in the shop for his Grandma J. for her 80th birthday. Idea in mind, he sat down and drew a picture of a flower…”because all grandmas love flowers,” he says. From this picture Dave cut out the design in metal with his plasma-cutter and welded on a rod for the post. Back to S. again to add his own flair to the piece with paint.

Now does that look like one happy grandma? Not to mention one proud kid.

As Christmas approached S decided to go for round 2 by making some garden art for his other grandparents. Another flower for Grandma B. and a golfer, of course, for Granddaddy.

As you can see by the golfer, S’s designs are getting more complex. Luckily this is no problem for the guy he farms it out to – Dave always loves a good metal working challenge (plus it takes the pressure off me for a moment with S playing my usual role).

Handmade gifts are always extra special!

Happy Golfer with Bright Flower.

My step-dad — one of the hardest people to buy for. I think S found the secret.

The biggest surprise of all was the behind-the-scenes work D & S were doing to build a special garden art piece for me. My portrait in steel!
I love my long wavy hair and how he captured my less than perfect smile.

I have a goal to create a parent/child workshop where your young one can design his/her own garden art piece. Your child will start in the studio by sketching a design, then you can both witness the metal shop process (there will be other fun activities for distracted kids). From there your child paints his/her masterpiece and then you get to proudly walk away with a heartfelt work of art.

If this workshop sounds intriguing to you, please let me know so I can gauge interest as I plan the details.