fixed on a particular color or traditional
quilt pattern - drunkard’s path, maybe, or
flying geese - “I’m at the m ercy o f w hat I
find at the scrapyards,” Rose says.
T he scrapyards, scattered across the
M idw est, have been generous.
Rose begins by constructing a piece’s
frame, laying out panels and welding them
up (“like making a stretcher for a painting”).
Then the fun begins. H e stands over a table,
arranging and rearranging countless pieces
o f cut colored steel. Everything is fastidi-
ously tack-welded, before w ire brushing and
w ax finishing. He has up to six pieces in prog-
ress at any time; one longtime assistant helps.
He completes about four pieces each month.
A t a time w hen reclaimed materials are
chic, Rose “has taken that kind o f piece to
a new and high level,” says Nathan, whose
gallery continues to represent the artist.
“ If you open the doors or the drawers,
they’re just as meticulous on the inside as
they are on the outside.”
O ver the years, his pieces have becom e
more colorful, his patterns more com plex.
L ately, Rose says, he has been picking up
pieces o f metal w ith w ords on them at the
scrapyard, incorporating text into his w ork.
H e’s also been looking at w ork by collage
and outsider artists, thinking about how he
might bring even more elements together.
H e w on ’t speculate on w here that might
take him. “I’m looking for w hat I can do
next, but at the same time I have to be open
to being inspired,” he says.
“It’s a step-by-step process. Y o u complete
one thing and move on to the next, and hope
that you ’re being inspired - or that you ’re
going to see something that inspires you to
make the next thing.”
+
jim rosefurniture.com
J u lie K . H anusis
American C raft
’s senior editor.
Rose is superstitious
about signing his work,
waiting until pieces are
completely finished
before using hand stamps
to mark them with his
initials and the year.
Bars Quilt
Cupboard, 2009
hot-rolled steel,
found color panels
2.7 x 3.1 x i.6 ft.
feb/mari2 american craft 065
