Forged Steel Botanicals

From his earliest days as a blacksmith, Kyle has enjoyed forging flowers, leaves, and other botanical structures. It’s a unique and satisfying challenge to transform hard, flat steel into the fluid shapes of plants. Here are a couple recent projects that put those skills to use.

First up is a small tabletop bamboo sculpture. This piece stands about 12” tall and was included in our exhibit as guest artists of the month at Crozet Artisan Depot a few years ago.

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Next is a set of shelf brackets designed around a grapevine and leaf motif. A winery near Vancouver, British Columbia reached out to us about creating these custom brackets for their new tasting room.

You can see other examples of Kyle’s botanical forging in other blog posts, including a double-leaf tree gate, a custom mantle mirror, and an exterior cat tail sculpture.

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Small Table Bases

Not too long ago, we shared a few table bases that were all big and hefty. This time around we’ve got a series of smaller, though no less substantial custom tables.

We shared some work-in-progress photos of this first set of custom tables last fall along with some other pieces of forged furniture. Since then, they’ve had tops created by the talented Sallie Plumley and the series of finished tables installed in the Tabol Brewing tasting room here in Richmond. What a gorgeous combination of handmade, local work, if we do say so ourselves!

Kyle created this grouping of glass top tables with forged steel bases in time for last fall’s Craft + Design show. This series consists of an oval coffee table and two round end tables. This set is available, so if you’re interested, contact us for pricing information and to arrange a visit to see them in person!

This last base was custom designed and created for this gorgeous stone top. We loved having this beautiful stone slab in the studio. These photos don’t come close to conveying the beauty of the colors and patterns. A simple but elegant custom table base is just the thing to support this lovely top.

Fixtures for Vasen Brewing Company

We were happy to help our friends and neighbors at Vasen Brewing Company out with a series of custom fixtures. Their beautiful new taproom features the fine work of many local Richmond companies and makers. Stop by to take it all in and grab a pint of one of their specialty farmhouse ales!

We worked with lighting designer Wendy Umanoff to create this large, forged steel chandelier that hangs in the entrance of the taproom. Scroll though the photos to see a few our process shots.

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Forged steel chandelier by Umanoff Design and Phoenix Handcraft. Photo by Umanoff Design

When it came time to create a sign for the brewery, our signature folded steel bowls and wall sculptures provided just the right inspiration.

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Forged sign on reclaimed wood at the Vasen tasting room

Our next project for the taproom was a foot rail for the bar. We forged the foot rail from heavily textured solid steel round bar, along with coordinating brackets to hold it in place.

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Forged steel footrail at the Vasen tasting room bar

And last but certainly not least, we forged steel brackets to support the live-edge drink rails created by our friends at Surface Architectural. Bonus peek of the talented Emily Herr's mural in the background.

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Forged bar brackets in the Vasen tasting room