Mississippi Magnolia "Tree Ring"

This is one of my favorite pieces we've done! It's not often you get to see iron finished to look like highly oxidized copper! This was made for a client in Oxford, Mississippi, home of William Faulkner, John Grisham, and the Ole Miss Rebels. It was specially designed to match the fun, whimsical, and unique taste of the now proud owner.

The owner wanted something simple yet fun to keep the leave contained around her magnolia tree (the state tree and flower of Mississippi) as magnolias are "self-mulching". The people that do her yard work, however, kept raking away all the leaves! Thus this "tree ring" was born.

My favorite part of this piece is the color. Jason met with the client at Sloss Furnace in Birmingham, Alabama and that's where the color was inspired. The copper on some of the furnaces has oxidized so much that it has turned a piercing shade of blue-green. We came up with a blue-green finish reminiscent of that very blue. It was a very unique and memorable project!