“Plants excite me, their shape and structure define their living grace and elegance. I am driven to create their form with a malleable piece of copper. It is not the reproduction of a plant, but the capture of a living form from my mind’s eye into an aesthetic piece of artistry. To me, each creation is a new journey that I take, each hammer blow is a series of progressive steps to bring concept into reality. I cannot tell you where I will step, but I will know it on my journey. My goal is to share my feelings for nature and plants so that others can take a moment to recall nature’s beauty just outside.”

I use copper exclusively in my creations; such as sheet metal, pipe, round stock, tubing, and wire of various sizes and thicknesses. Pedestals for my work are normally granite but use of stone and flagstone will sometimes be used in lieu of. I use modern-day and traditional techniques to weld copper together. To weld copper, I use an oxygen and propane torch to fuse the metal together. Sometimes I need an ingot of copper and I will melt enough copper together to create the ingot size from scrap pieces.

Technique involves aspects from coppersmiths, forging, and repoussé and chasing. Pus, I have 30 years of hands on experience as a machinist. When I create my works, I will create a central point of interest and intertwine other secondary features. An example is my single roses; rose petals are a central focus point, but the leaves and stem come from other plants with imaginary hammered textures.

Coppers brilliant, rich color that will darken over time, but modern finishes can greatly retard this effect. Formulated for bare metals and extremely durable; ProtectaClear can be used inside and outside to protect copper, brass, silver, and stainless steel. My creations have several clear coats of ProtectaClear applied to them prior to assembly to maintain their appearance. I have tried and tested several finishes, ProtectaClear is the clear winner!

Nicest Professional Review:
“Knowledge, skill, and technique are exceptional. An uncanny ability to subtly transform natural materials into art. The ability to capture organic quirks makes his botanical sculptures so remarkably life like, and at the same time existing just beyond the borders of the natural.”

Carolyn Phillips, D’Art Center Director, 2017

Timothy Starling is an American and Virginian native artist who transforms copper into a magical world of botanical organic art. His distinctive technique breathes life into a new vibrant hybrid breed of the garden plants that we adore. His conviction is that gardens revive the soul and copper is the perfect medium to metamorphize art into a benevolent stimulus for a civilized society.

Timothy’s themes display the artist’s fascination with botany and copper. Norfolk Botanical Gardens inspires many of his concepts for his artistry. His relationship with Norfolk Botanical Gardens extends to their generous exhibit for his seven-foot-wide copper tree chandelier in their Garden Cafeteria for the year 2017.

Timothy’s first juried art contest led to a second-place award for the 2nd Annual Nature's Beauty Art Contest with the International Gallery of Arts in Toronto, Canada. Their 2017 summer edition of Exquisite Arts Magazine also featured an article on his art.

Timothy Starling will be happy to design and create a special art piece for you out of copper. Commission copper art is hand made and may require long lead times. Contact Timothy Starling for more information by clicking info@timothystarling.com.