Finding a calling as a metal artist

Blacksmithing has allowed Jodie Bliss to achieve the texture and character that have become part of her signature style. Images: Jodie Bliss

Anyone who says metal artists aren’t real welders hasn’t met Jodie Bliss. The jewelry artist turned blacksmith from Monument, Colo., creates beautiful metal sculptures with striking detail and texture that require more than just casual metalworking skill.

Bliss has experimented with just about every material and discipline you can think of. Everything came into focus when she was introduced to welding by her uncle’s neighbor Chris Knapp, owner of Bo Steel in Colorado Springs. Her love of metal intensified when she learned the art of blacksmithing, which allowed her to give the materials the texture and character that have become part of her signature style.

Bliss Studio Custom Metalwork, with its six employees, hand forges and fabricates sculptures, architectural work, and functional pieces.

Today, Bliss spends most of her time managing the business, but she hopes to find a balance that will allow her more hands-on time in the future.

FAB: At what point did you realize you needed to hire help?

JB: I worked solo for the first five years. I did mostly artwork, and I'd pack it up in my van and drive all over to sell it at art shows. I was doing about 24 shows a year. It was fun for the first few years, but the travel was wearing on me.

Serendipitously at this time, just when I was tiring of the road life, I was a participant in the Front Range Open Studio tour. This is an annual event where a number of different artists open up their studios for people to tour. Many of them asked if I could make them a gate or something similar that was architectural. I was excited by that because it would allow me to stay home and not have to travel so much.

I booked six months of architectural work and fairly quickly realized I needed help and decided to hire my first employee. It grew from there.

FAB: Has it been difficult to step back and watch others bring your vision to life?

JB: As my business has evolved, so has my role. These days I spend my time designing and planning, managing my employees’ execution of my designs, meeting with clients, and making sure things run smoothly. I have a fantastic team that I am incredibly grateful for. My lead blacksmith, Chris Padelford has been blacksmithing for longer than I’ve been alive. He’s incredibly talented and has a great artistic eye. My lead fabricator Chris D’Addario also loves blacksmithing and is a fabulous fabricator. Alex DiFiore, my studio manager and finisher makes sure we never run out of consumables; he picks up materials, does powder coat runs, and he hops into the blacksmithing and fabrication when needed. Logen Meyers and Ian Wunderlich are the newest members of the team and they contribute passion and creativity in their own unique ways. Finally, there is Deborah Schoen, my gallery administrator. Along with other administrative tasks, she and I work together to apply for public art calls and she has even picked up the drawing and designing for certain projects over the past year. I feel endlessly fortunate to have such a wonderful group of passionate, creative people around me.

Bliss’s style is on full display with Spirit of Manitou. The incredible detail within the sculpture is itself impressive – all of which was done by hand.

FAB: What are some lessons you’ve learned as a business owner?

JB: My dad owned a small business as did my mother, and one of the first pieces of advice my dad gave me was that you’ve got to have happy employees. So that’s one of the things that I see as part of my job description is making sure they’re happy and fulfilled. I do this by trying my best to design within their specific skillsets and assign projects that I think will give each of them individual fulfillment as much as I can. If there’s an issue, we talk it through find out what we could have done better. We don’t place blame, we solve problems, learn from our mistakes and grow as individuals and as a team.

FAB: How important is adding texture to the metal? What are some ways you achieve it?

JB: Unless it’s an abstract piece that doesn’t have any forged components, I like to give everything an overall texture. I just think it takes that the material from this very industrial feel to a more organic feel, which is definitely more appealing to me. Texture gives the sculpture more life.

In general, the first stage of texturing is achieved by forging red hot metal using various tooling under the power hammer. The second stage of the texturing is more intentional. I'll use specific tools that we have made to create a distinct pattern. The third step before fabrication is shaping the sheet or bar stock into more 3-D forms, scrolls, or other shapes needed to produce the design. If you look closely at my work, you’ll see those more intentional, secondary textures that really start to give the pieces life.

FAB: How has COVID affected your business?

JB: In the early stages I feared incoming jobs would come to a screeching halt. But the exact opposite happened. I started getting three or four calls a day with people wanting to set up a meeting for a custom job. Our business picked up, and it has stayed that way because of the word-of-mouth from customers. As we emerge from a crazy year and back to some normalcy, I am excited to see what the next six months, year and ten years will bring us.

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