We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amos Mackie. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amos below.
Alright, Amos thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I went to school for welding and also metal fabrication. I started my career happily working on large industrial projects in large fabrication shops. Almost every day after work, I went home and worked on my own art projects. At that time my art mostly consisted of ceramic sculpture. After so many years of being a tradesman and a reclusive artist, the thought of combining my need to sculpt with my metal fabrication skills took root in my mind. Once there, I could not let it go. After about 8 years of working for others, I set out on my own. I took a business course, which mildly prepared me for my new world. Despite my fragmented business acumen, my metalworking skill set and a decent instinct for design, I was fortunate enough to get enough work to keep myself afloat.
I tended to gravitate towards the most challenging projects I could find, and I soon got a reputation among interior designers and builders of high-end homes as a guy to go to for projects that required fine finishing and technical expertise. I learned a tremendous amount from the people I worked with on these projects, and to this day I am grateful for all that I learned, and for the trust that had been put upon me.
As I grew as a company, I became an employer, I was finding it more and more challenging to want to continue doing custom projects for others. When every project is different, you need a very broad skill set. There is a lot to learn, and it is challenging to find employees who have to required skills. What is learned in trade schools is valuable, but doesn’t scratch the surface of the skills one needs to do finely finished furniture, sculpture and architectural metalwork. For my own health and piece of mind I have decided that smaller is better.
At this point in my career, I limit the amount of custom work I do and focus as much as I can on developing my sculpture and furniture pieces. I will never stop doing custom work as I still enjoy the collaborative nature of it. There are too many ideas ready to burst out of me. Whether it’s a blessing or a curse, I don’t know, but there is hardly a day when I am not sketching out a new concept that is often built on layers and layers of other concepts. I look forward to growing my company again as I get these concepts out there. I still get so much out of this work, and as long as my work remains playful and alive I will keep on doing it.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Amos Mackie. I am a metal fabricator, furniture designer and artist, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to earn a living with my craft for over 22 years. Working with the medium of metal can be challenging and always dirty but it feeds my creative appetite, and over the years I have honed my skills in working with a variety of metals, such as steel, copper, brass and bronze.
My main design pieces at the moment are metal table bases but I make all sorts of custom pieces for clients who are looking for one-of-a-kind furniture items. Sometimes I create unique designs for furniture items such as coat racks, bar stools, planter boxes and so on, and other times I collaborate with designers to fabricate their designs. Both processes are fulfilling for me. I love sharing design ideas and playing on that edge of aesthetics and practicality. I often find inspiration for shapes and textures in organic structures and the intelligence of patterns in nature.
Besides these more decorative orders I also work with teams of contractors and millworkers to create architectural metal features for homes and retail spaces. I am no stranger to building handrails and fences and working with engineers to meet structural requirements. Thankfully I have the shop space to accommodate these sometimes massive structures.
Some areas I would say I am gaining a degree of mastery in are metal finishing/jointery and patinas. I’ve developed my own processes to achieve certain unique results with metal, which took years of trial and error, but this experimentation and play are what keeps me interested in my art. My curiosity to persistently discover how to coax more out of the material while at the same time honouring its boundaries is what sets me apart from others. My dream is to move towards more sculptural art pieces that embody concepts that resonate with others.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
When I think about what society in general can do to help support artists, I first thing I think of is for people to stop buying products that are subsidized by other governments. The price these products are sold at does not reflect the true costs required to make them, which skews peoples’ understanding of what it costs to make stuff, and undermines entire industries in Canada. The public’s awareness around this would help, but it’s probably naive to think this would happen without political intervention.
In order to support local artists and create a thriving creative community, we can learn the stories of the people and processes behind what we choose to buy. If we can look at the handmade items that interest us and think about the cost of the materials, the skill that it takes to make the item, the livelihood of the person making it and ask ourselves if we are offering a fair price to account for all of that, then we are looking at the true value of a handmade piece. Many people are already doing this, I meet them all the time. Many of these people do indeed have a lot of money, but many of my favorite clients are the ones who come to me with an idea, or something that has inspired them to have something special made for their home.
I realize that not everyone will have enough disposable income for a custom piece of furniture, and I really have no judgment about that. I believe the choice of how we use our purchasing power extends to anything we buy. I do wish that we had more of a level playing field and I hope we can develop a culture here with more appreciation for the skills in our community.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Beyond having goals to learn new skills or hone others, my longest standing goal that has grown with me is my desire to have a small crew of skilled metalworkers helping me to get more of my designs out to a larger audience. The skills that I have developed over the years have been shared with a few good apprentices. This work is really not for everyone. I tell people when they start learning to hand finish metal, that it is like driving on icy roads in the prairies. It can be tense and tedious and one wrong move can be a major setback. Some people really take to it though, and I am happy to see them make it their own . I really hope to be able to keep a small crew of folks employed doing work that they are proud to do. I want to make this into a brand that is recognized for quality, thoughtful design and accessibility.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.archaean.ca
- Instagram: @archaeanmetal