Beechwood Metalworks

Rufous Hummingbird flies to Washington

2011-02-24T05:54:00.001-08:00

Some of our favorite sculptural characters have put on a new skin! Our ruby throated hummingbird was customized to favor the Rufous variety, native to Washington State. Already installed in this location is a Northern Chorus Frog, also a local species. These little touches make each installation reflect the environment in which its placed.

A customer favorite, the whimsical sculpture of an inchworm, also got a new look. This cheerful fellow stands about 4 feet tall, just eye level with a child. His shorter companion, seems surprised by how tall children can be!

These pieces will be ready for viewing this spring at Discovery Playground at Mirabeau Point Park in Spokane Valley, Washington.

Memorial Sculptures

2010-09-07T13:27:00.001-07:00

Our mission at Beechwood Metalworks has always been to make art for everyone to enjoy, young and old alike. We want fun pieces plus bright colors to result in a smile. Many of our sculptures are purchased by children's hospitals and parks with money donated to the project. Often times these donations are in memory of a loved one that has passed away. This is the case for many of the pieces we are making for Opportunities Inc. in Texarkana, TX. This company serves children and adults with developmental delays and disabilities, as well as the elderly. They are constructing a wellness trail, which will contain several memorial sculptures, with the hope that the pieces will bring joy to those that visit the space. For the families, it is a way to create a new and happy memory.

Our Baby Elephant Has Arrived!

2010-09-01T08:14:00.001-07:00

This new addition to our sculptural line up caused serious birth pains. Over 370 hours of labor to be exact. "Peanut Butter" was first conceived in Casey's head while in college at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1997. Fast forward 13 years later, after learning the skills he would need to take on such a complex project and inlisting the welding talent of our foreman Mike Richardson, his dream is now a reality. "Peanut Butter" made her debut at the Willow Walk sculpture show in Burlington, NC this June and was purchased by the Alamance Arts Council and a private donor. She will now reside at the future Children's Museum of Alamance County in Graham, NC. The museum is set to open in 2011 and will feature more of our work in the sculpture garden.

Discovery Playground at Mirabeau Park

2009-10-30T12:39:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure of working with Ginno Construction and Design Concepts community and landscape architects on several sculptures for their latest destination playground in Spokane Valley, Washington. In addition to our giant pumpkin (see previous post), we designed a 6 foot tall cypress Adirondack chair, 3 varieties of our 4 foot tall steel flowers, a steel northern chorus frog, and a 4 foot tall dragonfly and cattail combination. These pieces were placed in the Secret Garden, an area surrounded by tall shrubs and accessed by a small archway in the greenery. The park also features a fossil dig, music area, water play, sensory garden, and is accessible to children of all abilities. We feel honored to be among the other artists and designers who make such a magical place a reality.

The Great Pumpkin- a new installation

2009-10-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

Our newest sculpture is one of great size and just in time for the fall season. We were commisioned to make a series of sculptures for a fabulously fun new park in Spokane Valley, Washington (more on this in my next post!). The 7ft tall aluminum pumpkin comes already "carved" with a hollow interior playspace. Solidly constructed and handpainted with durable UV protective paint, this piece is ready for visitors!

New custom stairs for the true Duke Fan

2009-10-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

In August we created a custom set of stairs with a central backbone for the treads to rest. The customer wanted stairs that were architectural in design but industrial in function. Casey came up with the "floating stringers" that are supported by only two 4"x4" steel columns. The visual effect makes these sturdy stairs seem to defy gravity. The effect will be emphasized when the sheet rock is placed over the metal studs in the background. The customer also wanted a way to load furniture onto the upper landing without having to go over the railing. We created a removable section of the railing that swings up and out of the way by simply removing a few bolts. This makes for a wide loading dock on the second floor. For the finishing touch, the color of the stairs exactly match that of the client's favorite team- Duke Blue.

UNC Hospital Skybridge- Roof top garden

2009-03-06T10:48:00.000-08:00

This last week we installed the first phase of the UNC Hospital Skybridge Roof Top Garden in Chapel Hill, NC. This is located at the back of the hospital, outside the skybridge that connects Women's and Neuroscience hospitals. As the year progresses, we will add many flowers, ants, hummingbirds, mushrooms, and other critters -over 35 pieces in all! This scene is designed to camoflauge the air conditioning units that are prominant on the black rubber roof, and provide an uplifting view for patients, visitors, and staff.

Press

2009-02-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, we are humbled to receive some press about the work that we do here in the shop. This week, we were approached by Todd Drake, a fellow UNCG alum, and he wrote a nice piece about our hospital projects on his blog: Make Art Like You Care. Thanks Todd!

Reno over and out

2009-02-12T14:15:00.000-08:00

We are crating up the concrete planter with the metal flowers and shipping it off to our client in Reno. We are pleased with the result and hope they are too!
The stainless steel tree arbor is coming along- we are now making the small branches that will carry the copper roof. Harrison has taken over the TIG welding from Mike and is stuck with the tedious task of making hundreds of limbs.

Mike is working on an "O" so big project out of aluminum.

Of course, Casey had to test it out...

We have the best jobs ever.

Flowers and trees

2009-02-09T13:03:00.001-08:00

Over the past week, we have been steadily working on two major projects and many smaller jobs have come in and out, filling the spaces in between. I've been painting the steel flowers for our Reno, NV client and have only a few more details left until it all gets put together.

We made a few copper suns to have on hand with two 24" pieces already going to new homes.

The other big project- that is currently taking up most of our floor space- is the stainless steel tree arbor for Kiefer Landscaping in Durham, NC. Four metal trees will be holding up the roof and their bases will be on a stone wall. Last week the tree trunks and limbs were in fabrication stage and this week they are being welded into their basic formations.

In other news, ground broke today on our shop addition, which will give us more room to work and more space for equipment. Pictures to come!

Snow Day

2009-02-04T07:09:00.000-08:00

Here are few shots of the shop and the last bit of a winter dusting.

The sculptures in the front yard are going to UNC Children's hospital for another roof top sculpture garden.

Today at the shop.

2009-02-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

We have lots of projects taking shape in the shop this week. My new goal with this blog, is to show work in progress on a weekly basis and some of the tools we use to make it all come together.

These pieces are part of a sample sculpture for a hospital in Reno, Nevada. I'm hand painting these life size steel flowers and then placing them all in a huge concrete planter. The planter will be placed out side the building as a barrier to keep cars from driving in to pedestrian areas. If they like the final sculpture, we will be making several more (and I'll tell you where you can see them in person!).

Another project on the table is a pergola for Kiefer Landscaping in Durham, NC. Here, Mike is using our Miller TIG to put together some stainless steel tree branches. These will be the supports for the roof.
We always have copper wall hangings on order from our online store. The 24" copper sun seems to be the most popular size these days, where as last year it was always the 36". This sun is heading off to Dallas, TX and Darren is going to make sure it is perfect. He is polishing out the work marks with a Blue Point 90 degree pneumatic sander. Careful steps are taken after this point to not get any finger prints on the copper, which will cause it to tarnish.

Harrison is busy running the Calypso Water Jet for one of our industrial customers. This machine can cut almost anything we put under it with WATER! Not just metal either- stone, glass, rubber, and plastic as well. This customer needed over 100 precise parts cut from a woven stainless steel mesh material.

Check back to see how these project progress and new ones we add to the list!

Frogs are Done!!

2009-01-15T07:13:00.000-08:00

We finally finished the Poison Dart Frog Sculpture for our very patient customer in Utah and it looks great! We have two other frogs made as well- one for our next installation at UNC Children's Hospital 2nd Floor Roof Sculpture Garden and one to climb up the outside of our shop! Above are pictures of the first frog pre and post paint. Enjoy!

Children's Medical Center, Dallas TX

2009-01-15T06:38:00.001-08:00

We had the pleasure of working with the fine folks in Dallas to create a hanging installation in the new children's wing of their hospital. The piece includes 165 swallowtails, monarchs, and dragonflies suspended at varying heights from a stainless steel structure mounted between two large columns. The ceiling of this room is incredible! The whole surface is lit up with LED lights to create a night sky-complete with shooting stars. The installation itself was a new concept for us as it is our first hanging scupture. Check out the results above- we hope to have professional pictures once the hospital wing is complete.

Festival for the Eno

2008-07-08T12:40:00.001-07:00

We just returned from a wonderful weekend at the Festival for the Eno in Durham, NC. We debuted some new garden pieces including small ladybugs, spiders, and crabs. Some recent press about our shop was also released this week. Click here to read the article in the Raleigh News and Observer and see the cover of Alamance Magazine.

We are busy beginning new big projects in the shop. Soon I will post our new dragonfly sculpture and tree frog! Keep reading...

New Work

2008-06-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we participated in Willow Walk, a sculpture show in Burlington, NC. We debuted a couple of new pieces such as a snail named Marley, Sherman the inchworm, and our new body style for our ladybug. We are also using a new paint that is an automotive grade, UV resistant, Urethane Epoxy. It is the best protection we can buy and we are having fun experimenting with sparkles and color combos. If you want to see some new work in person, mark your calendar for July 4th weekend during Festival for the Eno in Durham, NC.

New Installation

2008-05-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Last week we installed four 8ft tall metal flowers in City Park, Burlington NC. The flowers are all placed around the park rides. The sculptures were a gift to the Parks and Recreation Department from the Alamance Arts Council. So go take a ride on the carousel for a mere $0.75 and check out the flowers!

Upcoming Events for June and July

2008-05-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

We are entering our busy season (although we’ve been running full tilt since October!!) and we have a few shows that we regularly attend. Our wonderful arts council is hosting their Willow Walk art show in Willowbrook Park, Burlington, NC on June 7th and 8th. The event is free and open to the public. There are always many interesting sculptures displayed throughout the park and in the trees. It’s a great show to take the family and a picnic. We hope to display a 10ft tall Grandaddy Long Legs! As always, we will have butterfly garden stakes for sale as well.
Our July event will be the Festival of the Eno in Durham, NC July 4th, 5th,and 6th. This is a fantastically fun event with tons of live bands and over 100 artists. The event is geared to be environmentally conscious with solar powered stages and eco friendly trash sorting system that so efficient only 8% ends up in the landfill (and that’s with 30,000 people attending!). We will be there with large sculptures in tow and garden art to sell. You can find us right at the shuttle drop off. Tickets are $13 at the gate or purchase in advance for $10 a day or $25 for a 3 day pass. Kids 12 and under FREE as well as seniors over 64. Come eat some good local food, play in the water, dance, and get some great art.
Speaking of the Eno, on July 5th the News & Observer will be running a story on our shop called Who and Ware by Diane Daniels (Home and Garden section). We will also be featured in Alamance Magazine hopefully in June or July.
I hope you are enjoying our new website beautifully created by the staff at Allpro Media in Burlington, NC. They were able to give us a professional website that showcases our shop and it’s capabilities. We enjoyed working with them and I’m so glad I didn’t have to figure it out on my own anymore!
Please keep reading for updates! We are installing at UNC Children’s Hospital in the next 2 weeks and I will post pictures of the results.
Em

In Search of the Perfect Frog

2008-04-15T13:41:00.000-07:00

Usually when we make a new animal, insect, or flower, we try to find the real thing in nature to study. We pluck a flower, dissect it, scan it, and draw it. We capture an insect in a jar and measure it's thorax, abdomen, and little legs. It's a goal of ours to really know our subject matter. Of course we take some artistic license with the features we include in the final piece, but we start with the real deal. Now comes the problem with our latest sculpture- the poison dart frog. They aren't just hanging out on the porch on a warm spring night. Sure, I've got my pick of bullfrogs and toads by our pond- they sing sweet melodies at night and have inspired great stories to tell my kids at bedtime. But they're music pales in comparison to the beautiful markings on the poison dart frog.
Last night, I found myself rummaging through my kid's toy box in an unfruitful search for a small bag of toy frogs from our local science center. No luck. I even searched for the 3D bookmark of a frog that perches on the top of your page but it was also M.I.A.. So now it's my quest to find a good replica of the dart frog to study. This may involve a field trip or two...

New Stuff and new presentation

2008-04-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

I have been blogging on Myspace for the last year and have come to this realization:
A: I'm 30 not 16
B: I'm blogging about our business and a banner of "Secret Crushes Waiting To Meet Me! Click Here!!" is not very professional.
So here I am among the civilized and well spoken- I'm not sure I'll fit in!. I will, however, continue to write about our shop Beechwood Metalworks in Burlington, NC. Here is an update on the events:

It's been super, mondo busy this year! We completed a 27 piece sculpture garden for St. Francis Children’s Hospital in Tulsa, OK in January. We are on the final phase of the UNC-CH Children’s Hospital sculpture garden- adding bees, 125ft of steel grass, and a sign. There is a chance that we may do another sculpture garden at the hospital if our proposal is accepted.

Our employee count is now at 5 which is crazy considering it was me and Casey for 5 years and we added the other 3 in 6 months. Speaking of adding, we are also doubling the size of our new shop in the next few months to accomodate more equipment and more workspace. We continue to add new critters to the lineup. An inchworm, snail, tree frog, and the bees are all new items.

Lastly, to wrap up this "toot your own horn" rant that seems to have spilled forth- we will be on Fox 8 WGHP today for a short clip about the shop. Also, check out next month's Alamance Magazine for an article about us.

Thank you for reading my first "Blogger" post! I hope you will read more...