Post #245270 by tikiwinebear on Thu, Jul 27, 2006 8:26 AM

Last March, I happened to be in Tempe, AZ, when their annual Art Festival was taking place. I knew that Doug Horne (Swamp Fire Lounge) would be vending there, so I watched for him and made a special point of introducing myself. Since I already have 6 of his prints, I didn't buy anything from him at that time (sorry Doug).

Along the Festival route, I chanced on a vendor showing her metal art wall hangings. Several of her pieces caught my eye immediately, but I focused in on one in particular. The piece captured a lone "tiki hut" perched on top a hill with a single palm tree curved over the top of the hut. The artist, Mary Beier ( http://www.metalworksart.com ), etches her design into a flat sheet of metal, then uses metal paints to complete the piece. When light hits the surface from different angles, the etching sparkles in the cuts. And she uses very vivid colors in her work. I mentioned to Mary, who was tending the booth, that I thought her work would compliment Doug Horne's, and she smiled and told me that she also had several pieces of Doug's work on her walls at home.

When I received Mary's metal piece at home, and placed it next to Doug's, I just knew I had to have another of Mary's pieces to frame off the wall (and Doug's work) perfectly. So, I contacted Mary and had her create another wall hanging to compliment the one I had purchased. This time, I asked her to include only a palm tree and no "hut". Mary asked me to send her pictures of her work alongside Doug's, so I decided I should post them on TC as well. Here they are:

These are hanging in my tiki guest room. Mary mounts 1.5" posts to the back of her work acting like "feet" to lift the metal surface from the wall. This gives her work a 3-D effect, though you can't really see this in my pictures.

Check out her website if you like what you see ( http://www.metalworksart.com)! I really like her work along with Doug's ( http://www.swampfirelounge.com ).

Mahalo!

• Myke