I drew inspiration for 'Amber' from a picture I found in an awesome book on Italian ironwork called 'I Maestri Italiani Del Ferro Battuto' (OK I'm like 95% sure the photo was in here)
The picture was a very large (maybe 8'x12') restaurant installation by Italian sculptor/ blacksmith Toni Benetton (http://www.museotonibenetton.it/main.php?m=1&a=1). The piece, done in the 1960's, caught my attention because of how 'stretched' the ironwork was. This Italian master knew how to push the material to it's limits. There's another smaller example of some exquisite lionheads in 'I Maestri Italiani Del Ferro Battuto' that show how malleable hot iron can be.
There are definitely many others who's work showcases the plasticity of hot iron. On a trip to the U.K. in 2007 these gates done by Giuseppe Lund outside Victoria Station caught my eye. Victoria Plaza, 111 Buckingham Palace Rd, London, UK:
Not by coincidence I was reading Giuseppe Lund's website http://metalgarden.ca/ and low and behold Lund apprenticed under Toni Benetton. Alfred Habermann also has some very scupltural work to get excited about http://www.amazon.com/Alfred-Habermann-Blacksmith-Designer-Gestalter/dp/3931951081.
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