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REFLECTIONS OF HOME
The Art Of The Rail - by Lisa Jensen
 Incorporating unusual, striking art in my new home
really appeals to me. While I have a couple of prints I love already – and I look forward to seeing how natural light filtering into different spaces will
ignite a new layer of life to them – I’m thinking about adding a new, more significant piece of art as we build this home. As it happens, it’s
an item we’ll be spending some funds on anyway, something we need. Something maybe even beyond a colorful ceramic sink for the half bath. (Which in my opinion,
for art’s sake, also justifies spending more than we should.)
It’s actually Claudia’s fault.
A neighbor and a native of Guatemala, Claudia wanted to flavor her new home with her Spanish heritage. The staircase became her target. “In Guatemala, many people
have wrought iron staircases and lighting fixtures,” she explained. “I have a beautiful wrought iron chandelier in my entry. That was my inspiration.”
As it happened, her friend Herb specializes in hand-wrought metal fabrication through his business, Coach House. She showed him the chandelier. “I want something
that will dance with this,” she told him.
So Herb set to work, ultimately hand-forging a black wrought-iron banister with twisted spindles and scrollwork that captured the Old World flavor Claudia sought.
Accustomed to passing by traditional oak stairways, newcomers to her home stop smack in their tracks, smitten by the unexpected European flair. Claudia is ever so
proud of her signature staircase, of its airy grace and the distinction it lends her suburban home. The best news? “I only paid about $800 more than I would
have for the wood railing,” she said. “But I have a functional work of art here that I absolutely love and appreciate, every time I climb it.”
Although my memories of childhood weren’t concocted beneath tropical skies, I understand what she means. You can’t be in this home without feeling, at
least before the kids thunk down the stairs, that you’ve been whisked away. You can’t help but marvel at the craftsmanship.
Hand-shaped metal possibilities run the gamut. A railing could offer French provincial appeal, or spiral up with Florentine flair. Patinas applied can range from creamy
white to green verdigris, and wrought iron metal may be faux finished to mimic bronze, copper or platinum. There are antiquing finishes as well, for an aged look.
A hop on-line exposes a world of custom metal fabricators, each offering endless images to consider. “Our minds are our pattern book,” summed up Chris
Flechtner, lead designer for 47 Productions in Seattle.
To peruse a gallery of award-winning metal fabrication work, and to find artisans in your area, check out www.nomma.org. You can also go to www.building.org, click
on “Metals” and then “Ornamental Metals” for sources, or find a blacksmith affiliate near you by hitting www.abana.org.
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