Pine Cone Tree Stair Rail: I have the photos

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One of our clients lives amongst the piney woods and wanted to bring the outside into her home.  I designed this pine cone tree railing especially for her.  

The newell post looks like a tree trunk with the tree roots "growing" around the bottom stair tread.  Each pine cone, needle, and tree branch texture is wrought iron; hand forged of course.

The detail in this design is impecable; to the left is a photo of a section of the railing about two third's way finished.  As you can see, every single layer is made piece by piece and then welded together to make a pine cone or needle.  Each pine cone has its own personality; some are closed, some open, some are larger, some smaller.  This section was made so that we could show the client all the little details we were proposing; we ended up not using almost all of them in the actual railing.

I  love it when we get a client who is thinking outside of the norm; it's so much fun to come up with unusual metalwork designs.  Based on this design, we also ended up making a tree-like chandelier, as well as a three-tiered, 10' tall fandelier.  It's amazing how one thing inspires you to push the design further and dream up a brand new concept which is then fulfilled in wrought iron, brass, copper or aluminum.

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written by: Izabela Wojcik

View From The Window

Lately I have been asked by a few interior designers if we can make windows... Of course we can!  As long as it's designed in metal, we can custom forge anything your heart desires.  I like the feeling of the window below; it takes up the entire kitchen wall, creating a fresh feeling of being outdoors.

Wrought iron window-wall for a Dallas, Texas private residence.

If you feel like dropping by, we are actually right in the middle of making an entire store front for a restaurant in Houston, Texas.  The project includes the windows as well as the doors.

written by: Izabela Wojcik

10' Pine Cone Fandelier

It's not quite finished; we still need to clean up the remaining weld marks and put a nice color on it, but I really wanted to show it off.  This is an all custom pine cone and needle, three tier fandelier we are finishing up for a client in Henderson, Texas.  It's 10' tall.  Our client, Debbie, wanted a fan which would double as a chandelier and look like a piece of artwork.  She also wanted to bring the outside into her new home.  We made a similar chandelier earlier this year, which Debbie fell in love with, but that one looked like an actual tree; Debbie and her husband simply had to have a fan inside their chandelier.  I suggested taking the elements they loved and coming up with a brand new design which would fit their needs.  They loved the concept and the rest is history.  I can't wait for them to see it... they'll be so thrilled.

The entire fandelier is hand forged, of course.  Each pine cone is made of multiple layer which have to be hand cut and textured and then fashioned into the final cones.  Same goes for each needle, each baby pine cone inside the needle bunches, and the bark texture which looks so real it's almost as if it was just pulled off the tree.  The price tag for this beautiful piece of functional art? $20,000.  Why not $40,000 and above?  The work is being done right here at Potter Art Metal Studios in Dallas, Texas.

written by: Izabela Wojcik