To sports fans in Saratoga Springs, the name Design has been associated with boxing for two generations.
In the 1980’s, Sam enjoyed success in the amateur ranks in the ring, winning local matches as well as Golden Gloves bouts. For several years now, it has been Sam’s son Alex who has made the family headlines with his ring prowess.
Back in 2006, Alex turned his attention to a different passion: welding.
In his junior year of high school, Design took a B.O.C.E.S. course in welding, fell in love with the trade, and it evolved into an artistic passion.
Working for Charlie Van Hall of Metro Metal Recycling in Watervliet, Design was introduced to Peter Paquet, an artist that used hard steel and molten metal as his canvas. First Design helped Paquet on his projects, which are mostly large-scale steel pieces that were built not for money, but simply for Paquet’s love of the art. None of his pieces have ever been in a gallery or on display, other than outside of his Schuylerville home.
“I first started at BOCES at the welding class there and I wasn’t really interested in art at that time, as far as a regular job,” said Design. “And then I was doing some structural welding for somebody private in a big, huge art studio, actually, but I was just putting in the beams and stuff like that… then his friend, Peter Paquet, needed some work done, so we (he and Van Hall) were finishing up with the work there, and it kind of actually worked out so I just started working right over there (for Paquet).”
As for Design, his love of welding grew, as he entered and won several competitions — including one in Syracuse on the same day he was scheduled for a Golden Gloves boxing match in the same town.
First, there was a local competition comprised of fellow Saratoga B.O.C.E.S. students. After winning that, he went on to win a regional competition in Schenectady before taking the state title and a trip to the national competition as New York State’s representative in Kansas City.
“I finished in the middle of the pack,” Design said about the Kansas City trip. “There’s some tough competition out there…but it was really nice because I got a free trip, a free hotel room, free food, everything. It was definitely a lot of fun.”
Incidentally, he won the Golden Gloves Championship in Syracuse, as well.
Since working under the tutelege of Paquet until he passed away several months ago, Design has gone on his own, working at his shop behind his house, where he has already found success as an artist.
His shop is adequately stocked with steel and equipment, and sitting on top of one of his racks of steel he displays one piece that is a take on a medieval warrior’s helmet that weighs in at approximately 15 pounds, and has some quite dangerous points to it.
Sitting on the floor against another wall is another helmet that is currently a work in progress, although this one is much larger and will eventually sit atop a steel pole. On one of his workbenches sits a partial lamp that is also in progress, and upon another is a three-foot wide propeller that he fabricated. Design is still not sure what will become of the propeller, which looks as if it was rescued from the aft end of an old ship, but he is sure that it will find a home somewhere in one of his designs.
Design’s work has been on display at the House of Creative Soul, a fairly new art gallery located on Van Dam Street, where he has already sold a couple of his pieces at one of the gallery shows, and still has several pieces on display, including the large steel sculpture that sits outside the gallery’s door. He seems to have already developed a signature of his work, as he incorporates a steel sphere in nearly all of his works.
“Searing Bliss” is Design’s interpretation of fire, as the pieces in the sculpture have bronzed look to them, and the shapes are reminiscent of flames. It’s a beautiful piece of art.
“I thought of that (the name) because of the color that it ended up going, and all of these shapes are similar to shapes of fire, so it’s pretty dynamic.”
On the configuration that sits outside the gallery, which is still unnamed, two pieces of curved steel balance perfectly, with a steel sphere sitting between the two semi-circular fragments. The whole structure sits atop a base that consists of copper and steel, and the entire upper portion of the sculpture rotates.
Design enjoys his craft, but is also appreciative of the fact that others may be interested in something that he does outside of the ring.
“I like selling them. The idea that somebody would be interested enough to buy it is pretty nice.”
As much as he enjoys putting on the welding shield, however, Design has not left the ring. He believes that his next fight will be within the next couple of months.
The House of Creative Soul is located at 38 Van Dam Street.
