23
JUNE
SHARE MY STORY
Artifex Design House’s Story
Meet Thomas owner and creator of Artifex Design house. Thomas and his partner Drea create incredible sculptures, custom metal or wood furniture, jewellery, leather purses, creative lighting and chandeliers and so much more.
As a young man, he lived in France and sold his art on the streets in Bordeaux, France. He then went to the Kootenay School of the arts, where he studied blacksmithing, welding and casting, printmaking, colour theory and mixed media. In San Miguel D’Allende, Mexico, he had the honour of studying silversmithing with the great Billy King, learning various jewellery techniques, stone setting and silver soldering. His time in South America and Mexico inspired his leather working, reflecting the durability and quality of those countries craftsman.
About 15 years ago, Thomas decided to open his own shop “Timeless Iron”. After a while, he started to diverge from blacksmithing and started working on leather, jewellery and woodwork and felt that it was time to change his business name. About two years ago Thomas decided to change the name to Artifex which is the Latin term for craftsmen, builder, maker or artist.
During our interview, Thomas said that one of his favourite things about what he does is being able to be of service to people. He loves beauty and aesthetics and being able to turn raw material into something that is unique, beautiful and sometimes even functional.
And I can tell you, that his creations are just that. Unique, beautiful and functional. After being able to watch Thomas work in his workshop and seeing some of his creations, we were blown away.
Apart from Thomas’s creations, we were able to marvel at some of his partner’s creations as well. Drea’s expertise is woodworking and ranges from unique, one-off custom builds to both small and large scale production pieces, always focusing her designs on a clean, modern style.
(Being the total klutz I am, you can only imagine how I was walking around in their shop, … uh oh, no better not touch that, oh woooow oops, don’t knock it over … ?)
But back to Artifex and their fantastic Custom creative builds. Thomas specializes in tailoring his designs to specific wants, needs and requirements. If you need something to have a specific function, are looking for a custom piece, a one of sculpture or need something repaired, he is your man.
Right now, Thomas is working on creating another sculpture and is looking for a man or female with a slim build and over 6.4ft tall. (If you know someone who fits this description and would love to be immortalized as s sculpture, make sure to get in touch with him ?)
