BILL SALMON

 

Bill Salmon, A seventh-generation Vermonter and metal artist, designed and handcrafted the awards for Design Showdown 2015. At his one-man company, Sugarhouse Ironworks, he makes home goods such as pot racks, and railings and takes on commission work, but  these delicate flower sculptures are his specialty. "My daughter used to pull irises and daffodils straight out of the garden and bring them to me," he says, " take a piece of hard, cold, unyeilding steel and  bring life to it." He heats the steel in his propane forge, shapes each piece on his anvil, and then puts them all together; there's nothing mechanical about his process. When the sculpture is done, the hammer stikes are still visible. He polishes the surface and applies a clear gel coat that gives it shine and keeps moisture from the metal. "When I start building something," says Salmon, "it might not have any resemblance to what you see in the garden." But the  results are beautiful blooms.

 

Article and photographs featured in the Magazine of Splendid Homes and Gardens DESIGN NEW ENGLAND issue  May/June 2015.