Steve Lopes, Custom Metalwork Design & Fabrication

For more than 35 years, Steve Lopes is who designers and architects call when they want something special – something personal. His artisan metalwork is noted for its textural depth, and the layered interplay of elegant lines, curves, and grids. His process is deeply engaged and collaborative; a conversation that results in something extraordinary for each client. Steve is an artist and an engineer. He understands that metalwork lives in a space; that light and shadow play with railings; that a properly-designed chandelier can bring a dramatic space into a more human context. That combination of talent and experience results in metalwork that perfectly suits its space. Steve brings a lifetime of studying space and design to bear on his work. Growing up in the dynamic post-war San Francisco Bay area, his parents knew many of the original Silicon Valley pioneers and their far reaching ideas. Steve spent his summers working with graphic designer Nicolas Cann, who introduced him to the gifted furniture designer Hendrik Van Keppel. Their influence and support helped him ask the right questions about what to do with the gifts he possessed. In his late teens, he studied in the art department at the University of Washington under the influence of Ritchie Kehl. In the 1970s various jobs followed including arborist, commercial fishing in Alaska, blacksmithing, vineyard work and repairing fishing boats. Blacksmithing was where all of his interests and talents eventually converged. In 1978, he set up his studio in the renowned artist and marine community of Port Townsend. Over the years, Steve has attracted a world-class team that have created custom metalwork that can be found throughout the United States.