Life...The Vivere

TODD CONOVER

Central New York's Renaissance Man

June 5, 2015 

I've recently rediscovered a longtime acquaintance along the avenue of the arts that we've both been traveling... TODD CONOVER... right here in Syracuse, New York! He's a man who's been involved in some form of art for as long as we both can remember, his memory going back to his childhood when his mother's art and art friends surrounded him, (Todd's stepfather and his grandfather were renown woodworkers and designers as well) ....mine going back to singing with him in the choir at St. Paul's Cathedral in downtown Syracuse, N.Y. (Todd's first college degree is in Music!)

Growing up, Todd was always involved in community theater and music, but he learned the art of clothing and jewelry design through apprenticeships and classes. He worked for more than a decade in his own high-end fashion company with his co-designer, Jeffrey Mayer. Fashion, illustration, graphics and fine art are Todd's forte. In fact, he's been a professor and program coordinator in the College of Visual and Performing Arts fashion design program for 20 years, teaching digital fashion illustration and presentation. 

Now, he brings all that experience and design aesthetic to creating art with metal, stemming from his interest in the Arts and Crafts Movement (1880-1910.) Living in an Arts and Crafts-style house with many pieces of Stickley furniture (the grandfather of the Arts and Crafts Movement,) surrounding him,

his interest burgeoned into all manner of the movement: jewelry, lighting and vessels, collecting as well as creating, using the shapes, colors and surface treatments of the period as his guide.

He took classes in Syracuse University's renown metalsmithing department... a department that's existed for more than 100 years. (Even the tools are  a century old... amazing!) Result: Todd's a metalsmith artist extraordinaire after only five years, producing unique pieces of wearable art and home ornamentation.

Here are some examples of his work...

For more examples of Todd's work, click here.

and that's just a glimpse at his jewelry. Here are some other pieces to adorn the home... 

It wasn't until recently that Todd considered himself an ARTIST... a craftsperson...yes, maker, designer, but not an artist. Now, because he's driven to make art, to discover, to create and has free reign over what he creates, he can finally call himself what he's always been...an artist. 

One of the things I most love about his creations and one of the things that he loves most is TEXTURE. In the Arts and Crafts Movement, texture was the mark of the artist.  In the Stickley furniture of the period, construction was a decorative element of the pieces as in this drawer...

Todd calls the textural element "surface." Instead of flat pieces of metal, the irregular hammer marks add to the richness and depth of each piece.

This master craftsman works at an age old work table constructed by his grandfather... perhaps he's channeling some of the man's creative energy!!

This is Todd's soldering area...

and some sketches his did in Adobe Photoshop before working on his piece.

Todd Conover is an artist, an author, illustrator, designer and teacher... a true Renaissance Man. For more information about him and photos of his eclectic work, click here. His art pieces can be found at Elsbeth Rose in Fayetteville, N.Y., the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, N.Y., Dalton's American Decorative Art on James Street in Syracuse, and soon, at the Museum of Design in New York City. You can also contact the artist via his website: www.toddconover.com