Several years ago, I was pursuing an accounting degree when a listing for a welding course in the catalog called to me. The siren-song of the sparks, flames, heat, fumes, along with the substance of metal itself made me sign up. I soon realized that to feel fulfilled, I needed to work with my hands—to create. I found myself arriving early, staying late and car dancing along to my music on my way home from class. The following semester I changed directions and enrolled as a welding student.
A few years into the program, I was introduced to a local metal artist, Steve Josyln. Steve took me under his wing, invited me into his shop, and taught me how to apply structural welding to artistic pieces. He called me fearless because I was eager to learn and quick to try new equipment and techniques. I completed the welding degree and decided to see if I could make a business as he does, by making decorative metal work. I named my business Fearless Fenix. Phoenix to represent change and fire, with the incorporation of the Fe—the chemical symbol for iron—plus my nickname from Steve. Fearless Fenix Metalwork was born!
I am deeply inspired by both Nature and music. In my work, I want to show the beauty, delicacy, and whimsy of nature in the permanence of metal. Flowers, leaves, insects, animals, and sunrises are fragile and temporary. By recreating and enlarging that delicate beauty into a metal piece, it solidifies that brief moment and reminds us to cherish Nature. Metal will eventually deteriorate, but it will be here much longer than the natural object it represents.
As someone who previously pursued engineering, the interesting part of creating a piece for me is how to build it, what steps to take. I usually begin with raw steel or sometimes copper in the form of pipe or sheet or flat, round, or square stock. The challenge lies in changing those basic shapes into components that I assemble into a finished piece. I like to use various forms of welding, brazing, and blacksmithing, as well as an assortment of hand tools to create my pieces. I cut, bend, forge, hammer, grind and weld the metal into the shape I want. The process of working with metal is both exhilarating and frustrating. Strength, finesse, engineering, and effort all combine in creating metal art. The finished pieces contain all of that force, along with the beauty and delicacy that it represents.
Trisha Townsend
Fearless Fenix Metalwork
