SEQUIM — From solid sheets of cold steel Sequim artist Larry McCaffrey crafts sculptures flowing with warmth and life.
“Very seldom will there be straight lines in my work,” he said.
McCaffrey’s pieces, from tabletop sculptures to larger floor models, are a juxtaposition of industrial materials forged into sinuous organic shapes, a pleasing union between the two opposing forces.
Artist is a relatively new job title for McCaffrey, but he’s no stranger to steel.
He spent his career as a metal worker and welder, traveling to jobs around the country.
He and his wife, Darlene, spent 13 years cruising the waters off the West Coast, from Alaska to Mexico, working at ports along the way.
The lure of the land finally sounded louder than the call of the sea, and the couple settled in Dungeness three years ago. They sold the boat and built a house in the woods.
“I looked at the water long enough,” McCaffrey said.
The would-be artist finally had the space — a garage –in which to turn his attention to creating art. Steel was a natural choice.
“It just seems like I can’t get away from it,” he said. “I’ve always had an artistic eye, and I’m just expanding on that now. I’m doing what I want to do.”
McCaffrey has also expanded his tool collection to be able to weld a wider range of metals, including sleek stainless steel.
Starting with paper patterns made for mockups, he lays out the designs on the sheets of metal, and begins the process of bringing it to life.
The final product may be finished by simply polishing to a high shine, burnishing to create a surface that catches and reflects light, or “powder coating,” in a hot, enamel-like process that fuses powdered pigment to the metal.
The powder-coated pieces in particular are well suited to outdoor installations.
A tripod of rectangular rods, painted a vivid red, nestle in the greenery outside McCaffrey’s front door.
“The outdoor pieces make a nice accent to a garden,” he said.
While his work requires a great deal of technical skill, and more than a little brawn, thinking up names is the hard part, he said.
“The grandkids thought that one looked like the number nine,” Darlene McCaffrey said, pointing to a large piece. “So he called it ‘After Eight.'”
A tabletop stainless steel band with whirls of steel spinning off is called, fittingly, “Spinoff.”
McCaffrey’s work is available for viewing and purchase at The Blue Whole Gallery and Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery in Bainbridge Island. He will be one of the artists featured in the BAC October show called “The Circle.”
McCaffrey is also the featured artist for September at Blue Whole Gallery, 129 W. Washington St., along with watercolor artist Lynne Armstrong.
There will be reception for the artists during First Friday Art Walk today (Friday), 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
