Functional Art
Architectural blacksmith Glenn Gilmore forges ahead
Gilmore in his studio strikes while the
iron is hot. Photo by Tommy McNabb
This expressive and pictorial railing was commissioned
for the corporate headquarters of a major foundation
in Atlanta, Ga. The design elements include squirrels, fox,
birds, rabbits, a person reading a book, oak trees and flowers
all individually hand forged and designed to relate to the
clients’ interests. Photo by Tommy McNabb
This fireplace screen for the Two Feathers Ranch was designed to incorporate the ranch logo with unique hand forged copper feathers, forged steel arrowheads and a southwest Native American pattern for the frame. Photo by Tommy McNabb
This impressive hall table aptly named, Aspen Solace, features a hand formed copper top with a raised ridge design and a steel border band of hand forged aspen leaves and branches set off by a bark texture background. Photo by Tommy McNabb
The
Fleur-de-lis fireplace door in this Vail Valley residence features one of the clients’ two dogs formed from sheet copper using repousse, an ancient metalsmithing technique, where many
small tools and hammer blows are used to bring the image to life. Photo By:
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“My approach is forged metal work not fabricated, not welded together.”
Over the years, the pieces that have generated the most attention are his fireplace doors.
“I realized the fireplace holds a great ambiance in people’s minds,” he said. “There’s a real romance to it.”
He works with each client to make his or her pieces unique.
“I like to make it part of what’s going on in the house or the room so it looks like it was designed to be there,” he said.
Gilmore’s work can be seen in homes around the country. He has built fireplace doors decorated with a shrimp boat, complete with nets. For handles he forged shrimp tails.
One gate he shows in his portfolio is adorned with forged crabs. They appear to be walking across the mesh that makes up the front of the gate.
Though Gilmore specializes in fireplace doors, he has forged everything from tables, to mirrors, to gates.
In 2000 he moved from the Smokey Mountains of North Carolina to the Bitterroot Valley, Montana. His home and shop are located east of Corvallis.
Gilmore still has clients around the country. And he continues to teach and help pass on the tradition of blacksmithing.
“It’s an obligation that I have toward those mentors and instructors I’ve had who have given so much to me,” he said.
“So part of what I try to do is pass that on. It’s a work. It’s a lifestyle. It’s the way I live. It’s the way I think. It’s not just a job.”
  
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PHOTO CREDITS >>
beautiful work
Posted By patti on Aug 25, 2011
I came across your information by accident...but had to leave a message to say how beautiful your work is.
...a metal artist!!!!! unique and wonderful.
beautiful work
...a metal artist!!!!! unique and wonderful.