Only recently has metalsmithing become a part of my creative passion.
I always had a love for metal and the art of jewelry making but never allowed myself to pursue that path. Instead, for many years, I had been totally enthralled and enamored with working with wood; this living energy existing beneath the bark was and still is extremely captivating for me. While slicing open pieces of wood I am constantly in awe by the natural beauty that wood possess.
My sculptural pursuits flourished upon receiving my B.F.A from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1981, then following with a M.F.A. from Rhode Island School of Design in 1983. Shortly thereafter I joined the faculty at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina to become the head of the Sculpture Department, as well as teaching drawing and design.
In recognition of my sculptural achievements, in 1983, and again in 1988, I was awarded the distinct honor of receiving two grants from “The National Endowment for the Arts”. During that time my sculptural installations were being exhibited in major galleries and museums throughout the Southeastern, US.
During the early 90’s I shifted my main focus from teaching about and creating abstract sculptural installations to designing and developing a line of utilitarian sculptural wood utensils and carved bowls. “FanelliWare” offered a new and refreshing twist to the ordinary salad utensil and bowl. I then hit the road showing and selling my work at major craft shows throughout the country, embarking on a 13 year wood utensil production period.
As the weakening economy grew deeper and darker, I, along with my husband, Johannes Michelsen, an incredible wood turner/artisan himself, stopped chasing the craft show markets. Instead we got married in 2005, bought the Quintessential Vermont Property, renovated the old barn and founded “From the Heart Studios”. Mark Chagall wrote: “If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing” This holds so very true for us in the way we approach our art making process.
We reverted back to Johannes’s previous talents of stair building and architectural woodworking. These projects consisted of several fine custom circular staircases and Colonial Front Doors, custom dining room tables as well as a large driving bridge. Having stopped my utensil and bowl production, my mind was allowed to relax and my creativity became refreshed. I garnered new ideas that lead me down a very new and exciting path.
For many years I held a fascination with the shape of the spoon and decided it was time for me carve one. With all the wonderfully spalted, curly, burly wood my husband has collected, I had an incredible source to work from. Each spoon is one of a kind, beckoning silver and semi-precious stone adornments. It was suggested to me that I eliminate the spoon and focus solely on the metal. I took that advice.
I am the happiest I ever been with my work; I believe it is truly obvious in the new work that has been recently created. I love the whole process of working metal with my hands, fabricating shape, manipulating form, creating texture, and most importantly creating an objects of art for one to admire and cherish.
© 2015 Deb Fanelli