Metal Mentality
Frank Cameron’s artwork is hanging on the walls in homes all over the Central Valley, on display front and center in Tracy’s City Hall, and has been shown at Stockton’s Haggin Museum.
by JAMIE MENAKER
Frank Cameron is arguably one of the best metal artists in San Joaquin, and his latest project is no different—just a little closer to our hearts. Cameron has been commissioned by San Joaquin County to create a mural depicting the spirit of San Joaquin, from the tractors to the vineyards, which will be hung in Stockton’s newest county government building.
Still in progress when we visited Cameron in his at-home metal shop, the attention given to each piece of the four- by five-foot mural is admirable—each spoke is hand-welded to the tractor’s grill, and each leaf has been pre-cut and shaped before its addition into the work. For one who entered into metal work as nothing more than a hobby, Cameron has shaped his talent to an exacting level of detail.
It all started with some used welding tools in the ‘70s. A friend was getting rid of a metal torch, and Cameron was looking for a way to relax after the workday. Once he got the hang of it, he was hooked, as he says, and it wasn’t long before he started getting orders from friends that liked his work. Cameron has always been excited about the challenge that metal work presents. “It’s each time you travel and something catches your eye, you know?” he says. “I always think to myself, ‘I wonder if I could make that out of metal.’”
This spirit of innovation is what keeps metal work enjoyable, even after thirty years, for Cameron. Whether the inspiration for a new work comes from Cameron’s travels or a client’s request, nothing is off limits. For each work, Cameron tinkers with a smaller mock-up of his vision, deconstructing it to see how the metal will respond, bend, hold up, and texture in response to his ideas. “Art is a continuing educational effort that will never reach conclusion,” he says.
Most recently, he has been experimenting with techniques to color change the metal without the use of paint. Different applications of heat and acid bring out inherent natural colors in the metal, and grinding the raw metal can produce a prism-like range of colors.
Cameron and his wife, Judy (they have two grown sons), also house a vineyard on their Tracy property to try their hands at winemaking, and an auto shop in the garage for Cameron to toy with classic cars.
Since the start, Cameron’s custom metal work has been meant for in-home appreciation, but his ability to tackle any type of project has now made him a name in public art as well. “The difference is that the work has to be people-friendly,” he says. “A whole lot more people are going to be walking by and possibly disturbing the art. Another thing that I’ve had to get used to is the way that the metal is affected when it’s made for outdoor use. The metal will turn and age over time, and that’s something that needs to be thought about and planned for also. That’s not something I’m completely used to yet.” He points to a weather vane he created that’s standing at the edge of his winegrape vines as an example.
Today, Cameron’s metal art is on display all around San Joaquin. An art piece picturing silhouettes of a group of women under a landscape of mountains and sunshine is hanging in the main lobby of Sutter Tracy Hospital to honor the volunteer Pink Ladies. A cut and welded steel work titled “The Cello and The Music Stand” is nestled in a made-to-fit cutout in the wall of the Tracy City Hall rotunda, as part of the City of Tracy Art Collection. A replica of the Altamont Hills with its many windmills hangs on the tasting room wall at Tracy’s Windmill Ridge Winery, and another one of winegrapes and the winery’s logo hangs on the wall at Lodi’s M2 Winery.
Outside the area, Cameron has been invited to show his work at Gallery M in Half Moon Bay, and at a five-month exhibition in the UC Merced library.
With hundreds of pieces of metal art completed, Cameron is just as eager to keep learning as he is to pass his talent on to others. He teaches classes in welding and metal art at the Tracy Adult School, and is excited to describe the project that he will be teaching this particular evening, experimenting with welding different metal cutouts together. The end result will be a decorative stake for the garden flowerbeds.
Where the extent of Cameron’s love for metal work can really be seen is in his home, where countless metal artworks of different subjects take up most walls, telling the stories of his many travels, and carefully arranged by his wife to tell the story of his talent.
For more information: www.cameronmetalart.com
