Form and Reform – Jon Sarriugarte’s Magical Studio

Jon Sarriugarte and his studio Form and Reform are no strangers to the world of metalwork art. Jon Sarriugarte’s Form and Reform works keep popping up at art and furniture galleries, on twitter, online retail sites . . . you know, the usual places you’d expect to find them.

But Jon Sarriugarte and Form and Reform have also shown up in the most unexpected places, like the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. Now you’ve got to admit it takes something a little out of the ordinary, maybe a little magical to do that, and that’s exactly what you get from Jon Sarriugarte’s Form and Reform.

But what do you expect from a guy who moved from the Midwest to California to start an art studio? Yes. He really did. Back in 1987 Jon Sarriugarte took what became an irreversible road

In the Metal Garden with Artist Jon Watson

How Jon turned his world upside-down-and-around with plants made of metal

Artist Jon Watson began The Metal Garden as a result of collaborating his love of metal sculpture and the natural, organic world of plants and gardens. 

That’s because decades of sitting at a desk in front of a computer can make you think.  About a lot of things.  Like gardening.  Nature.  Organic living.  About the overgrown, rich rural plant life of your childhood in Georgia, and your current view of mostly-brown Arizona.  And think about how your life got to this point. 

Makes some folks do crazy things, like start metal gardens.  Like walk away from their careers to learn something new – like welding.  Jon Watson walked away from 20 years in marketing . . . to learn to weld.  He took a year off to train under a professional welder, and

Artwork to use and love – How one artist found success creating functional art

Nerio Festa  looks for inspiration in the outdoors and creates his products from natural elements.

Got functional art?

Not quite the same ring as "Got milk?"  But believe me you can do without milk for your cookies easier than you can live without functional art in your home and garden!  Don't believe me?  Well, okay, some of you can live without function art, but I'm telling you – your life must be pretty dull.

Check this out: the Always Vertical Candleholder for earthquake-prone territory.  Uh-huh, I told you: pretty cool stuff compared to that heavy-duty flashlight you keep at home charged for emergencies.  Or how about this: instead of a guard dog for your yard, get a peacock – an artist-inspired metal sculpted one, of course, to save on the cost of feed! . . .

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Successful Artists: How Metalwork Artist Kendall LeCompte Jumped the Corporate Ship to Follow His Passion

Let's see . . . art, steel, furniture, gardens . . . .  What do they all have in common?  That's easy: Kendall LeCompte!  You don't know who I'm talking about?  Well, you're in for a lesson – and a real treat – in the creation and use of steel, metalworks, creative and functional artwork, furniture, home and garden accessories – even steel napkin holders!

Every story has a beginning, and ours began at gift-giving time.  Kendall LeCompte, a bicycle salesperson and repairman, decided to make a piece of furniture for his wife – a steel bed.  That piece of furniture transported him all the way back to his childhood days of metalworking: hacking up scrap metal to create starships to play with.  Kendall completed the bed, presented the gift, and was changed forever.

With the creation of

Some people are only familiar with his Mission Style furniture, the beautiful, classic and breathtaking pieces of art that his wife describes as “Solid. Big welds and warmly functional.” Others have seen his art adorning buildings and public areas in their towns, but really don’t have any idea who he is. Many have a best-selling one-of-a-kind Menorah or wine rack, and some are lucky enough to have a marble sculpting – or maybe have seen one displayed in an office or a friend’s home. That’s too bad.

Yes, that’s right: it’s too bad. Too bad that’s all they know about him, just too bad they don’t know more about him, because they’re missing a lot! Don’t be taken in by just one of his artistic facets – Ivan McLean’s creativity is too diversified to classify simply. Artist, creator, marble sculptor, metal worker extraordinaire – these are just some of his hats, his areas of expertise. But neither his expertise nor his experience happened