Doglix.com - Custom metal working needs in the old pueblo

Everett Grondin Jr.

I was born here in Tucson in 1957. Formal Training began soon after walking. The simplest yard tool or a stick is much more in a childs imagination. Raised in what was the desert area of Cortaro I attended school in Marana, followed by college studies at the University of Idaho. Working my way through various and assorted professions it wasn't until the late 80's that I knew I had to get involved in the designer side of construction. Since then my profession has carried my as far away as Colorado and California, although I prefer to stay here in the old pueblo.

That brings us, as it brought me, to this point where I have been labeled an artist. I believe that it starts with genetics. My mother anchored me in the importance of heritage and family. With her maiden name being Fuentes, her family tree traces back to the Aztecs on one side and Apache Indians on the other. My father, with little more than a 9th grade education, helped to build the gas infrastructure of Pima county. Having to work from designs drafted on a table and not tested in the field, he often had to improvise by fabricating custom tools and procedures still used to this day. One of a kind tools, art in themselves, is a strong factor in making my work unique and interesting. Often times figuring out the means of creating a project is as satisfying as the completion for me.

My father showed me my way around a metal shop just as my grandfather did in the wood shop and my grandmother did in the artistic realm. My main medium is metals, with my hammers and my father's anvil being the most overworked tools in the shop. It is however, not uncommon to find glass and wood in my work. I prefer to use recycled materials whenever the project will accommodate it.

I was lucky enough to start out creating for very talented designers. After doing this for a while, I finally got around to make some of my designs a reality. My customers loved it. Over the last six years, I have migrated to a client base that wants me to handle the entire project from design to fabrication and placement. Some of my highly visible custom designs have drawn the attention of the humane society who wanted me to put a piece together for Luminarias del pueblo. I try to think of myself as more of a problem solver, or designer/fabricator matching function and beauty, which so far my clients are vastly approve of.