Elizabeth Brim

(http://www.metalmuseum.org/elizabeth_brim.html 12-17-09)

Brim was raised in Columbus, Georgia and received her MFA in printmaking from the University of Georgia in 1979. Soon after she began taking classes at the Penland School of Crafts, studying ceramics, woodworking, metals, and finally blacksmithing. She continued to volunteer and work at Penland, until she became an instructor and iron studio coordinator in 1995. She held that post until 2001, and now lives in Penland where she works as a full time studio artist.

Brim has taught blacksmithing at Penland, Haystack School in Deere Island, ME and, Peters Valley Craft Center in Layton, NJ and has been a visiting artist at several institutions, including the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her work has been included in several important invitational exhibitions and is represented in the Horn Collection in Little Rock, AR and the White House Art Collection.

About her work, Brim says “My sculptures are made using both innovative and ancient blacksmithing techniques. I am thinking about my heritage and what is expected of me as a Southern woman, making fun of myself and creating the world as I want it to be.”

(http://www.artsmemphis.org/event/detail/30593 12-17-09)

Elizabeth Brim: Master Metalsmith 2009, Metal Museum, Memphis, Tennessee,

August 28-November 8, 2009.

Elizabeth Brim is a prominent blacksmith as well as an instructor at the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina. She is best known for feminine imagery in her ironwork. "I grew up in a strong female dominated society. My mother and grandmother made frilly dresses for my sister and me and told us fairy tales. The things I make are all about being female and the expectations of women of my generation. I'm just playing dress-up, making a little fun of myself and having a really good time." As she moved from basic tool-making into more conceptual and personal pieces, Brim found her niche making feminine objects out of steel. She first made a pair of iron high-heeled shoes based on the fairy tale "Twelve Dancing Princesses" that won first prize at the 1988 Artist Blacksmith's Association of North America Southeastern Regional Conference in Madison, Georgia. She then continued on to make objects like aprons, handbags, pillows, tiaras, and high heels that gained recognition for their uniquely juxtaposed feminine imagery in the field of blacksmithing.

(http://www.kentuckyarts.org/memberDetail.cfm?MemberID=6342 12-17-09)

"I grew up in a strong female dominated society. My mother and grandmother made frilly dresses for my sister and me and told us fairy tales. The things I make are all about being female and the expectations of women of my generation. I'm just playing dress-up, making a little fun of myself and having a real good time." Elizabeth Brim, a blacksmith artist whose work looks more like fabric than metal. Some of the items Brim creates are feminine--aprons with ruffles, a disco top with fringe, pillows with buttons and lace, high-heeled shoes and tiaras. Her latest creations involve inflating steel. To show us this technique she creates a (Sunday) hat. She begins by first sketching the pattern on scrap metal. Next she cuts it out using hand shears. She attaches two metal pieces at the brim, heats the metal form to a malleable state and then uses an air compressor to inflate the dome of the hat. Finally it's a matter of embellishing the hat with ribbons and flowers, etc. Most of the items Elizabeth creates are girl things -aprons with ruffles, a disco top with fringe, pillows with buttons and lace, high heeled shoes, and a tiara -feminine but not frilly ). But what else would you expect from a lady blacksmith who wears pearls while she works? She told of the time she demonstrated her work and was surprised to read in a review that her work was a statement for feminism. She donned a curious look and said, "That's not what I had in mind; but if that's what someone wants to see in it, well I guess that's all Right." In fact, her high heels are for the Princesses. "I want them to be able to dance forever..." Her first pillow was made for her tiara. "You know how Miss America's tiara is carried out on a presentation pillow." Elizabeth actually sold the tiara before completing her first pillow but that doesn't seem to matter much to her. She happened on to something else she likes to create. It is a bonus that it makes for a popular demonstration. She collects photo of work by others who have been inspired by her techniques. She encourages folks to send her pictures. She teaches at Penland in North Carolina.