Creative metal coating | Natalie Guy
Creative metal coating by Metalier – Zen reading on the Rocks
Creative metal by Metalier has been used on a number of occasions by Auckland artist, Natalie Guy. She used Metalier’s Flexible Brass on a lamp-fitting shown by the Wallace Collection at Pah Homestead. She has also used it on a wide variety of substrates including bamboo, polystyrene and wood.
Because Metalier is “metal as art”, we were pleased to be able to support Natalie’s creative metal work when she was chosen as an artist for the recent sculpture trail at Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland, New Zealand. It is an honour to be chosen to exhibit at Sculpture on the Gulf. 34 artists were chosen from over 250 initial proposals. Natalie also sold the work so that’s fantastic too.
Reading Zen in the Rocks – About the work
Natalie entitled the work Reading Zen in the Rocks. It merges the myth of the Zen Garden and mid-century modernism. The work references the modernist sculptor Isamu Noguchi and combines two of his works. One is the 1962 Lessons of Musokokushi a bronze garden of flat-bottomed rocks. The second is the iconic Akari paper lampshades which has been replicated widely and is available very cheaply.
The rocks in Reading Zen in the Rocks have been inverted – the flat bottom skyward and the top nestling into the earth. The rocks appear to be solid bronze, but only the top element, the replica Akari are. Their shaping alludes to the concentric circles around rocks placed in a traditional raked sand garden. The lower element is created using a lightweight concrete/plastered hollow mould coated with Metalier Smoky Bronze. The materials are inverted with the lower part lightweight and humble with a creative metal coating and the top is weighty and expensive. The flattening of the Akari form which negates its practical role and adopts new possibilities would seem, the artist says, to be counter-intuitive to modernists principles. Natalie concludes that her work might, however, invite a fresh consideration of modernism’s natural lineage.
The setting for the sculpture trail is beautiful Waiheke Island – along a magical headland – in the sun, after a walk of an hour or two round the headland you can relax with a beautiful glass of Waiheke wine. What’s not to like?
Metalier is science, practice and creativity
Metalier coatings are a mixture of science, practice and creativity. You have to “feel” it as well as know practically what to do and of course without the Metalier science you don’t have a coating at all. The most creative Metalier applicators are those who have “got” the feeling and can let their art run wild. That’s one of the reasons we so like working with artists.
To find out how you can get the “feeling” or to ask questions about other things you can email us or telephone us (Mary on 021 732746 or 09376 7099).
Metalier Metal Powders | Exclusively protected
Metalier Metal Powders are specially preserved in an exclusive protective coating.
Metal powders are the main topic of this piece. It is also a bit of an unashamed brag about the quality of Metalier coatings. If that doesn’t interest you we suggest you read our blog about the Harrods escalator job. We’re still amazed at the size of that job and the sheer logistics of it.
To the point - metal powders are one of the two most important ingredients in Metalier liquid metal coatings. The other vital component is our specially formulated range of binders. Our solvent binder is only available in Aotearoa New Zealand, from us at HQ and from our authorised distributors throughout the world. This is because at the heart of its formulation is a recipe only manufactured right here in the Antipodes.
But, I digressed again, and this is a story about metal powders. The source of our powders is a highly-guarded secret, as you might imagine. They are such an important part of our process.
What actually makes our powders so special is threefold:
first is the skill with which they are produced,
second is the care with which they are packed in vacuum-sealed bags,
third is that each tiny grain of metal powder is encapsulated in a protective coating. This protective coating means that oxidization is almost totally prevented. It’s an enormous bonus for applicators and the end enjoyers of Metalier. Metal gets to be applied to a surface in almost the same colour as when it was mined from the earth. Metalier is the only company to utilize this exclusive process.
At Metalier we’re keen to retain our position at the top of the league table of decorative liquid metal coating companies. You know the saying – if you can’t be first, be the best. Well we weren’t the first and we didn’t invent the concept as so many decorative metals companies now claim (“Yawn”). But we reckon we’re right up there on the league table for a number of reasons. And one of the most important ones is simply the quality of our metal powders.
If you would like to know who invented the liquid metal concept email me and I’ll tell you. If you would like to know the source of our metal powders you could also email me and I won’t tell you. Sorry.
If you would like Metalier metal powders (along with the other ingredients) to transform something ordinary into magnificent metal then email HQ or UK or USA or India or Russia or Australia or Vietnam or fill out the form below.
General Contact Form
Copper brilliance | Experimentarium Denmark
Copper brilliance on magnificent staircase
Copper brilliance is seen in all its magnificence in what I can only describe as a phenomenal staircase in Denmark’s Experimentarium Science Centre in Hellerup. The Hellerup science centre is about a 15 minute drive north of Copenhagen, so is very accessible. It’s definitely added to my “must see’ list.
Designed by Danish CEBRA architecture the staircase is touted as one of the finest modern examples of a helical staircase. I have to admit that “helical” is a new word for me. It is different from a regular old spiral staircase because it doesn’t have a newel (another new word) which is a central post. This staircase happens to have rails on both sides of the staircase. That isn’t what makes it helical, however. Helical simply means spiral.
The engineering behind this copper brilliance is impressive. The staircase is built of 160 tons of steel and is clad with 10 tons of copper. Now, if only the architects had known about the lightness of Metalier’s liquid metal copper they could probably have saved at about three-quarter’s of the copper weight.
The architects were inspired partly by the science and technology focus of the Experimentarium. They were also inspired by the original building where the staircase is built. It was once o soft-drinks bottling facility for Tuborg one of Denmark’s iconic beer brewers.
While I like to use this blog mainly to tell you about things that Metalier has done and can do, sometimes you come across something that is just too good not to share. And this is one of those times. This staircase is mind-blowing and marries the exotic copper brilliance with a simple white minimalist path – the contrast is compelling.
In my book, this staircase is one of the architectural wonders of the world.
To learn more about it or more about Metalier, contact us.
General Contact Form
Metalier liquid metal | Champagne Gold in Harrods of London
Champagne gold is the colour of the liquid metal in Harrods
Metalier champagne gold liquid metal was chosen as part of a massive refurbishment of Harrods of London. Harrods is arguably one of the most prestigious department stores in the world. It’s certainly one of the most famous.
Champagne gold was created by Granlyn
Congratulations are due to our Metalier distributors and best mates in the UK – Craig and Alison McDonald of Granlyn Specialist Coatings. Alison worked with the contractors to come up with a special blended finish that she called Champagne Gold. We thought that was a splendid name - just right for a store that covers 90,000 sq m of space and sells luxury collections across 330 departments.
The Metalier liquid metal coating was applied to the sides of the escalators and in the bulkheads underneath – if that is the correct terminology. That was a lot of Metalier and it looked absolutely magnificent.
The company undertaking the contract was based in Hong Kong and the hard work was done in China. All the components of the escalator to seven floors were all shipped back for installation in situ. The installation was completed in October 2016 and I was lucky enough to be able to visit the store in the following week. I’m rather proud of the pictures I took. I also took a video of the escalator moving which cracked up my son – the Metalier part wasn’t moving, he said, so there was no point in a video.
I’m not taking any notice of him. Here is my video What do you think?
Did you know that there are 4 main banks of escalators in Harrods. The store attracts 15 million shoppers a year. Chances are that they’ll all go up at least one set of escalators so we reckon that about 3.75 million people per annum get to see real live actual Metalier. We think that’s amazing. What’s even more satisfying, in a way, is that they won’t know it’s Metalier. It looks like solid metal!
For more information about champagne gold or even just straight champagne contact:
Alison at Granlyn, Tim at M2 Supply in North America, or Mary at HQ or you could complete the form below:
General Contact Form
Cool main door designs
Cool main door designs have been on my mind
This week a new client visited us at Metalier in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand - the country having the earthquakes right now. She was looking for an exceptional, classy and cool main door design for the house she is building on the other side of the city. It was freaky how she found us and how by chance it all was. She happened to stumble across another amazing door we'd done in the same suburb. It was in a street she wouldn't normally go down. But for some reason, she felt compelled to go that way, she saw a door that inspired her, she knocked on the door and the nice people sent her to us. And isn't she pleased and excited by the options there are.
So how do we reach all the people looking for cool main door designs?
That's a question that intrigues me. At Metalier we rank with google for main key words such as "real metal coatings" and "decorative metal coatings" but that doesn't help much if you don't know that real metal or decorative coatings exist. Our US partners, M2 Supply LLC recently attended the Arc Conference at Dana Point, CA. While there they met with 30 architects from the top firms across the US and Canada. Only one of them had even heard of the concept of real metal coatings - which all just goes to show that the marketing department has got work to do. If you find us in a search we'd love to know what terms you were searching for.
One of the finishes our new client loves is our aged smoky bronze. Isn't it glorious - the patina adds a blue tinge to the metal. I didn't know that metal could turn blue - did you? I can hardly wait until I can see it in door form.
If you want to know what else metal can do you could fill in the form below or contact us at HQ here, or in the USA here. Happy Thanksgiving USA.
General Contact Form
Liquid Metal | Golden Leaves
Metalier’s Liquid Metal Golden Leaves is one of the newest samples to be created in the Metalier workshop at HQ in New Zealand.
The liquid metal golden leaves pattern has been created using our Liquid Metal Coating System with the addition of real leaves to create the pattern. It’s one of the techniques we’ve developed that we teach in our training sessions. You can learn how to use Metalier’s decorative liquid metal system in our hubs in West Bromwich, UK, H.Q in New Zealand and most recently in our hub in North America.
Liquid Metal Golden Leaves can be a busy pattern or a more sparse one as it is in this example. It can be a feature of a corner of a table, or a bedhead perhaps. It would look stunning on board room doors. And, of course, you can use any leaves you like, depending on the season, of course. You are not limited by the ones we have chosen.
One of the best things about working with Metalier is that you are seriously unlimited in what you can do with beautiful metals. It means you can create unique effects for each customer – everyone can have something different.
If you want to investigate training in NZ you can complete the form below;
If you are in UK and Europe then contact Craig & Alison;
If you are in Australia contact our business partners there Abel and Glen :
If you are in Vietnam then you need to be in touch with SZG Corporation;
And if you are in the US or Canada contact Tim at Inspired-Coatings.
Liquid Metal Golden Leaves can be in your repertoire too along with a whole lot of other techniques we’ll share. Contact us for liquid metal answers.
General Contact Form
Door design ideas
Door design ideas begin with Metalier
Our door design ideas say a lot about the occupants of a space and are frequently a central element of any design. This is true for private homes, apartments and commercial spaces. What professional firm, for example, does not make a feature of its reception area " its face, if you like" and its boardroom doors?
Entrances are a key part of how you live in a house
Renowned international architect, Marshall Cook, says it like this: "Entrances and exits are a key part of how you live in a house. It is the social gesture that gives people access to your house and your life. The entry has got to be recognizable."
The owners of the Auckland property featured here certainly understood the importance of the concept of entrance and turned to Metalier to fulfill their door design ideas. The metal chosen is our smoky bronze. Its a darker sultry bronze made even more sultry by the addition of black was as a finishing treatment. The pattern is one we've called "Lyrical". It's a design we enjoy making - you can see what fun it is in our Youtube video. Huge stainless steel handles set off the design and the metal colour. It's such a beautiful door, we couldn't resist showing you a larger picture.
You can choose to have a pattern like lyrical on both sides of an entrance door. You could also save the grand for the outside and have a plainer smooth Metalier finish on the inside. It depends on your interior decor and entrance space. And if cost-effective is a word in your vocabulary (it is in ours) you could make your door more cost-effective by having a Metalier exterior with a painted interior.
We've made a bit of a specialty of doors at Metalier. You could see the rust patterned door we created in a video here. And there are so many metal options, patterns and door handles available now, that we can make your entrance and your door uniquely yours.
Metalier has representatives in the UK, in North America, Australia, Vietnam, India & the Middle East. To be put in touch with the representative in your area fill in the form below and we'll get onto your request pronto. If you are outside these areas and would like to represent Metalier then we'd love to hear from you.
General Contact Form
Flexible Brass Coating
Flexible Brass Coating on an exhibition lampshade
Metalier’s flexible brass coating features on a lampshade made of cotton. The lampshade is a work by Auckland artist Natalie Guy and is exhibited at the Pah Homestead. The exhibition, entitled Parlour Games features works from the Wallace Arts Trust Collection alongside work by four contemporary New Zealand artists.
Natalie, who frequently works with Metalier coatings, said the exhibition was a complicated one. “The artists have integrated their own responses to modern life with resonances of past lives echoing in the Victorian domestic period of the Homestead”.
The Parlour Games Notion
The Parlour Games notion relates to the movement of furniture in the game ‘Musical Chairs’. Natalie made a series of works based on interior furnishings incorporating chairs, lamp-fittings and clocks. These have been transformed into pieces in transition in both material and place. Natalie’s work usually plays with ideas of creating a mix of the familiar and the ambiguous while leveraging a whimsical mid-century aesthetics. In Parlour Games the works take on a double guise as the modernist pieces are given a Victorian slant. The flexible brass coating was specifically used because of its relationship to mid-century interior fittings. The works of the contemporary artists were designed to respond to art –works from the Wallace Art Collection and in this case the work is a painting by Stephan Huesch.
Substrates for flexible brass
The Metalier flexible brass coating was applied to fabric similar to cotton which was stretched across and around the frame of the lamp –fitting. It was carefully finished using our bristle system which allows us to polish areas that are not flat.
Metalier’s flexible coating system can be used on fabrics of many types and even on paper. Right now we’re working on some blinds for Natalie – can’t wait to see how they turn out.
If you’re in Auckland do go and see the exhibition which is open until 26th June 2016. And if you would like to know more about Metalier coatings, flexible or inflexible please contact us by telephone (Mary 021 732746) or email or by completing the form below.
General Contact Form
Remarkable Surfaces | Metalier Liquid Metal
Remarkable Surfaces is Metalier’s partner in Christchurch
Remarkable Surfaces are based in Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It was important for Metalier to have a base in the South Island because the country is long and lean – it is not called Aotearoa “Land of the Long White Cloud” for nothing. Transporting finished product, particularly over the Cook Strait, was also a mental, if not an actual, barrier. So when we got a “hello” email from Suzanne, it looked like it could be a good fit. And so it is.
Behind Remarkable Surfaces is the wife and husband team (said that way on purpose) Suzanne and Wayne McInnes. Behind that again was the well-known and respected Christchurch firm of Tube Fab. Tube Fab is a light-engineering company. It manufactures high-quality steel shop fittings, shelving and tables. It is well-known and respected in the South Island. We couldn’t have asked for better partners. And we love their new website.
Since joining us, the Metalier side of the business has grown so much that Suzanne and Wayne have sold Tube Fab to concentrate on Metalier. We're thrilled that they are doing so well.
Before Remarkable Surfaces became part of the team, Metalier in Auckland received two important commissions from architects, Warren & Mahoney. Warren & Mahoney have their origins in Christchurch. One commission was for the Skyline Bar in Queenstown. Pictured above, it was completed in 2008. The finish was a bespoke silver created especially for the job. We were there earlier in the year. It still looks fabulous.
The second commission was for what I would describe as a belvedere in the Christchurch casino. The finish was patinated brass. Christchurch has been beleaguered by earthquakes since September 2010 but we’re told that the belvedere survived and still looks great.
Suzanne and Wayne have begun their Metalier careers with significant projects – black copper tables for a restaurant and copper panels for Vodafone. The service you will receive from Suzanne and her team is professional and friendly and comes with a big dollop of humour which sits nicely with us – if you haven’t placed the PO yet or chosen the finish you can’t expect us to have done the job yesterday.
Contact Suzanne at Remarkable Surfaces or complete the form below to get your South Island work underway.
General Contact Form
Zaha Hadid - mourned by the design world
Zaha Hadid Architect
The untimely and sudden death of Zaha Hadid, the renowned international architect, has led to many personal and professional tributes. These tributes are often accompanied by pictures of the amazing buildings she designed. The whole of the design world including us all at Metalier, mourns the loss of this brilliant, formidable Dame.
Zaha Hadid’s works include the vita fire station in Germany in 1993, a ski jump in Innsbruck, Austria and a building for BMW in Leipzig. There is also the Guangzhou Opera House in Guangdong, China, The Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton, London and the London Aquatics Centre completed a year before London’s 2012 Olympic Games are also fine examples of her work.
In 2013 Dame Zaha’s work moved into curved forms in the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London, in the Jockey Club Innovation Tower at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and in the Heydar Aliyev Centre in Baku, Azerbaijan. The fold of the walls and roof of this magnificent building remind me of folds of fabric. It is a masterpiece of fluid form. She even turned her hand to bridges. The Danjiang bridge uses a single mast to support a 920 metre highway.
Without doubt Dame Zaha was a controversial figure. Her designs however are brilliant and will ensure her name is remembered always. At Metalier we liked her philosophy of valuing the contribution of others – in her own words –
“a brilliant design will always benefit from the input of others. of course there is a lot of fluidity now between art, architecture and fashion—a lot more cross-pollination in the disciplines, but this isn’t about competition, it’s about collaboration and what these practices and processes can contribute to one another.”
To collaborate with us or talk about cross-pollination you can email us, telephone us or you could complete the form below.