Cool Iron Blog

My very best memories are of growing up on my parents’ dairy farm; at the time I had no idea how good I had it. We had two creeks that ran through the farm; one of them was full of speckled trout and nearly everyday my brothers and I would go fishing along with the neighbors. We’d bring our catch home and Mom would fry it up for supper. When we weren’t fishing we’d be in the woods looking for signs of wildlife, playing cowboys and robbers or looking for a pirate chest full of gold. Little did I realize it but our lives were full of great golden times then. My Mother would put a lot of love into her cooking and canning and there was always plenty of good food to eat. We would all sit down at the dinner table to eat and talk about our day. Looking outside we’d see lots of birds at the bird feeder; there was plenty enough for our feathered friends too. Those are some truly golden memories.

Gary

There is nothing that inspires me more than music; it’s almost like an addiction. A lot of my iron art has been designed under the influence of music; there is nothing that gets my creative juices flowing quite like it. Whatever it may be, a new ornamental iron wine rack or maybe garden art made of wrought iron, I know my best work is done while listening to music: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, George Harrison; in their day together, they were creative perfection; that is something I strive for each and everyday in my art. Music the Beatles wrote and sang were songs of love and peace; I hope when people see my designs they’ll feel the same inner warmth and peacefulness within themselves.

Gary

Back in my early days of iron working, a lot of what I did looked like it belonged in King Arthur’s castle. Back then I was working in an old cow barn and I’d bring my latest piece to the house to show my family; I’d be so happy with it when my sons said it looked too Gothic, like something out of a medieval castle. I couldn’t help it; my love for black smiths of the Renaissance era was such an influence over me, it would come out in my work. I loved making Roman short swords and a long sword that I liked to call a two handed Mongolian salad chopper; boy it was wicked. I’ve changed my style since then, but you can still see some of the Renaissance influence in my work like my logo, banks, safes, wine storage boxes or pirate chests and other things to some degree. It’s a little harder to see it now but it’s still in me. And my sons, well they’re a lot happier with the way my art work looks these days.

Gary

Of all the things I create, wine racks are the thing I enjoy making the most. There is nothing that gets my creative energy going like a new design on a new wine rack. Although I have a light taste for wine, it’s a lot of fun to incorporate a design into a wine rack. There is a certain look that I try to achieve in my work, a look that I like to think of as romantic; achieving that warm romantic feeling in a customer’s home feels like hitting a home run. One of the simplest designs that can show your good tastes to house guests is a design that incorporates a wine rack into a pot rack with some glasses and a couple of candles. The next thing that I’ll be working on in the future are indoor/outdoor plant stands with wine racks incorporated into them. One thing that you can be sure of though is that no matter what kind of iron art we design, they will make great conversation pieces.

Gary

This week we launched our website!  As I’m sitting here writing, there are a thousand ideas racing through my mind; my heart is beating, maybe from a bit of fright, maybe from anticipation of what’s to come. From this day forth, I will do everything from designing to shipping. I strongly feel my very best ideas are yet to come. I hope people will let family and friends know about this site; I feel they will always find it interesting; after all, this is where Iron Becomes Art.

Welcome to the Cool Iron web site! Check in with us often to see new products and designs, and to learn about upcoming art fairs, shows, and other ways you can check out some of our products. Thanks for visiting!

- Gary