STUART HENDERSON | SILVERTONE FABRICATION

I finished my first go-around in college in ’89, feeling a bit unfulfilled, albeit with a BS degree in Arts Management. That segued into an internship with Christie’s in New York, I learned quickly I didn’t belong in the corporate work environment. I spent the majority of my free time with the guys in the warehouse. They had access to all the paintings that came and went – De Kooning, Kandinsky , Rothko. That part was mind blowing. I guess the metal fab thing started with two friends who were amazing silversmiths, I mean, amazing. It got me into the Art Department at Northern Arizona University, where I exhibited for my BA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing in ’97. I came late to the “building things” party, but I hit it hard. I picked up a welder and spent time teaching myself bad habits. I knew what good craftsmanship looked like, and I could execute it in the non-ferrous arena, but my work with steel was NOT heading in that direction. I had friends working in photography, set styling, industrial design, and metal fab in Seattle. I had been guiding river trips in the Grand Canyon at the time, I wasn’t very good at, so in between trips I decided to head up and see what real metal fab was all about. I landed an internship with a blacksmith for the summer, and that set the hook. I moved to Seattle in the Spring of 2000 and found work in a small shop with a lighting fabricator. That lasted awhile, but I wanted more tool exposure. A referral got me into Company K. That’s when steel hit the bloodstream. I was in over my head, but I work hard, and it kept me afloat while my skills caught up. I loved the bigger jobs.  Doing serious work for serious people who expected quality.  It’s a beautiful thing, really. There is no lie in good craftsmanship. I learned what a finished product looks like, and I think its the most important skill I have today. I moved back to Flagstaff, Arizona in 2005 and immediately started my own shop, Silvertone Fab.  I was running to catch up for a few years as a solo businessman.  I was now responsible for all the creativity, math and interpretation that goes into making clients ideas come to fruition. Silvertone is in its 14th year, the first Fortissimo Collective Partner, and I am incredibly proud of the body of work. I absolutely love the details and am driven by a well-crafted product that fulfills a need.