Local Artist

Steve Chell - Mixed Media Mirrors

As we walked down the back exit stairs of the Furniture Mart in San Francisco, I saw an old mirror that had wooden dowels protruding from it in some odd fashion.

"Wood and mirror?" I asked myself, a hobby photographer looking for a new and unique artistic outlet. My first creative efforts using inexpensive woods and mirror were sold through local shows and shops. With growing sales - and compliments - came a desire to create something truly artistic that would provide lasting beauty - and Reflektions was born.

I had success in a craft gallery in the Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, and at a sister gallery in Carmel that encouraged me to continue my artistic explorations with wood and mirror.

I experimented with flame-treating strips of copper and ways to incorporate them into my mirror artworks. Placing them under glass onto the base mirror as colorful insets provided a striking concept - especially when abandoning my various colored hardwood frames in favor of sophisticated black wood frames.

Along the way, I discovered the various forms of textured glass that have added another eye-catching way to highlight the copper strips. I've since begun using strips of handmade paper and my digital photographs, as well as other metals and materials for new and unusual effects.

I continue to use colored mirror (primarily bronze, gray, and copper), a variety of textured glass forms, and frames of woods from around the globe - maple, canarywood, wenge, granadillo, cocobolo, purpleheart, koa, and others distinguished by figure and color - as well as commercial black wood molding. And I find myself continually jotting down new designs and considering new materials and concepts to enhance my mirrors.

Reflektions' mirrors and designs complement a variety of home and office decors - from contemporary to Asian to Craftsman and even traditional. They are available through fine galleries on the northern California coast or as commissions.

About the craft artist: My professional career included Public Relations and Human Resources management with Hewlett-Packard and management communications consulting for many Silicon Valley firms and organizations. My wife Carol, a watercolor artist, and I moved to Gualala, CA, in September, 2006.

Contact Information: Steve Chell PO Box 10 Gualala, CA 95445 Email: reflektions@mcn.org Phone: 707-884-9757

© copyright 2008 - all rights to the images are retained by the artist