Blow Forth
Author:Jessica RitzDe Winter Metalworks showcases its alchemic touch
Martin De Winter has a practical, unromantic assessment of the origins of his metalworking career, which now encompasses making custom projects for leading designers. Fresh out of welding school as a teenager in Belgium, he began working in fabrication shops, making “boring stuff. Gates, fences. Nothing very creative,” he recalls. He moved to Canada to be closer to his now-wife and business partner, Margaux Corsini, and the couple eventually moved to L.A. Finding his way to a community metal shop awakened a passion for the trade, and he soon began teaching amateur metalworkers and taking on projects for clients who recognized his talent.
In 2017 De Winter founded De Winter Metalworks, which specializes in brass. Jake Arnold, Pierce & Ward and Amber Interiors are among the pros who turn to the studio for artful installations finished with rich patinas such as showers, bars and cabinetry hardware. “Every project is different and every piece we make is basically a prototype,” Corsini explains about the team’s complex bespoke efforts. This
fall De Winter Metalworks is launching its own collection of limited-edition, predominantly brass-based furnishings and relatively accessible decor accessories. “We grew up in Europe around old objects,” De Winter says. Items including handcrafted side tables, mirrors and racks are intended to feel like “something timeless that has been there for a long time—but finished.”This ingenuity is certainly a far cry from the industrial utility output of his early days.
