Chris Ploof
Chris Ploof
- Contact: Chris Ploof
- http://www.chrisploof.com
- info@chrisploof.com
- 401-725-7464
- PO Box 1655
Pawtucket RI 02862
While growing up in Massachusetts, Chris used to visit a local living
history museum. He spent hours watching the craftspeople work. It was
amazing to watch tools, hands and hearts make complex items of great beauty.
He would then go home, and using whatever was at hand, re-enact what he had
seen.
"Thirteen years ago, the desire to recreate what I had watched being
hammered out was overwhelming - my head was full of ideas - and with the
help of a forge improvised from a 55 gallon drum, some fire bricks, and a
hairdryer, my career in metal-smithing was launched. I felt something was
missing, however."
Chris found the missing link when he started taking jewelry making classes.
He felt at home with jewelry scale items. He has studied with well known
artists such as Steve Midgett and Bruce Paul Fink and apprenticed under
goldsmith Neal Rosenblum. Chris's eclectic educational background includes
studies in everything from large-scale casting and lampwork beadmaking to
lapidary and polymer clay, blacksmithing and machining.
"I am inspired by historical styles and methods, but I also love exploring
new techniques and materials, pushing the envelope of current and accepted
techniques. Challenges always seem to lead down long roads even after they
have been met, and spawn many future ideas and designs for me. I approach my work with an open mind, ready to learn new things about my
medium. My sense of humor is my greatest asset when things don't go as
planned. The best discoveries can come from the biggest mistakes. Impossible
is only a temporary condition."
Chris' studio is located in Rhode Island. Here he designs and hand
crafts several lines of exclusive production jewelry, as well as many
custom pieces.
He has taught metalsmithing and lectured at many schools and shows
across the United States.
Chris was interviewed on National Public Radio: "Day in the Work Life" program.