Jim Russell is a metals artist presently working in Des Moines, Iowa. Trained as a professional jeweler with extensive skills groomed in construction and mechanical trades, he currently owns and operates a specialty metal fabricating company. His company boasts a large and very comprehensive portfolio of products utilizing a wide variety of metals and other accents; from jewelry and sculpture to sculptural home furnishings and furniture as well as architectural elements.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Although the scale of his work has grown monumentally through the years, primary to his focus is the design and construction of personal jewelry. At this scale he specializes in aesthetically pleasing, well articulated wearable sculptural art. He casts and/or hand constructs his pieces utilizing the full range of precious metals adorned with precious or semi-precious stones.
The attention to detail required in fine jewelry production lends itself well to the precision he achieves in his sculptural furniture and home furnishings, as well as other ornamental products. His design and engineering skills facilitate the coordination of the dissimilar metals and other materials he often uses in his products. Whether stone, ceramic, wood, or plastic in concert with stainless, carbon steel, bronze, copper, brass or aluminum, left to rust or painted or powdercoated or bright polished, the outcome is masterful.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The scope of his experience has given rise to sophisticated design solutions, whether in small scale jewelry products or larger sculptural projects. In either case, his designs exhibit a unique line quality seen in the flow and rhythm of all things natural. His energy and interpretations are influenced by the living world around him, where he maintains an almost child like wonder and delight in whatever is revealed. Ornamental over sized fly fishing flies, his latest sculptural art form, further emphasize this natural delight while exposing his personal passion for fly fishing.
