Dec 1, 2014
Shawn Lovell is a blacksmith and artist living and working in
Alameda, California. With a degree in graphic design from
Arizona State University and a degree in sculpture from the
California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland California, Shawn
Lovell has combined the two worlds of elegant design and the art of
blacksmithing. Starting out as a metal fabricator and artist
assistant she eventually was drawn to blacksmithing and set out to
learn everything she could about the age-old craft.
In 1997 she established her metalworking studio taking on one of
kind commissions. A signature piece of hers is the “Tree Bed”, 4
trunks with spreading branches and leaves that hold a bird’s nest
over the bed. She made her first tree bed for a landlord 15
years ago and she recently finished her twenty second bed.
Shawn's
Links:
ShawnLovell Metalworks FaceBook
page
Shawn
Lovell's SL Metalworks Website
AmericanCraft Magazine Article
What We Talked
About
·How she started with
blacksmithing, being an artist assistant at the California College
of Arts. That is where she learned how to fabricate with
metal.
· She was drawn to
blacksmithing through books, one of them was by Dona Z. Meilach
called “Decorative and Sculpture Ironwork: Tools Techniques and
Inspiration”. Available at Amazon, http://amzn.to/1uZrYaJ
· Her first visit to a California
Blacksmiths Association event was in 2001 where she met Arnon
Kartmazov (a Japanese knife maker who was demonstrating).
This ended up being a life changing event, eventually spending a
week with him in his shop
· Shawn’s first power
hammer came from Arnon’s shop, a Japanese knife making power hammer
that has dies that hit harder on one side
· A visit to the
Czech Republic and took a class with Alfred Habermann for a
week. Here is a video of Alfred Habermann (it’s in Czech)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKLSSnm-inA
· She made her
first Tree Bed in her first year of being in business, 1997.
Starting with a 3 inch diameter pipe, she uses the power hammer to
taper down to 1.5 inches. They became popular with the help
of the internet
· The Tree Beds
take about 200 hours to make
· Private
commissions make up most of her business, most of it being
architectural gates and railing
· Pricing her work
includes her detailed time logs, she uses a time management app
called TDF Tracker, http://bit.ly/1FI1ClX ($9.99)
· Design fee is an
essential piece of the pricing process, she always charges a design
fee
· A down payment of
50% is taken in the beginning. Shawn gives the customer a
ball park price that includes a number that it will not exceed
· A 1500 square
foot shop with 2 power hammers, a platen table, welders, grinders,
and fly press
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