Local metal sculptures Casey Melton and Shannah Frank are known better collectively as f. is for frank, the Dallas-based duo behind the city's most inventive accessories. But it didn't start out that way.
Originally their main focus was furnishings: gorgeously detailed wooden chairs and tables, as well as pewter-crafted lighting fixtures and drawer pulls. When the economy dissolved jewelry became the business' unlikely heroine. (You can now add gold-cast animal teeth rings to: cigarettes, booze and other Depression Era vices.) Since initially showing their architectural heavy art, women have loyally hunted it down, stashing aside mad money to afford frank's seasonally-offered pieces. Men know the tiny design district store front as the place where every gift selected is met with sloppy recipient joy. All will swarm the entry on Thursday, July 19 at 6 p.m. when f. is for frank launches its much anticipated fall line with a party.
We couldn't wait that long to see what they've made, and neither should you. Here's a little teaser for your shopping spank bank.
The women of frank have been busy, dutifully designing more detailed work than they've ever dared attempt. The result is a slightly delayed presentation, but one that will leave you broke and gleeful while you clutch your newly found treasures. It's also a very cohesive line; design elements like rope are repeated thematically throughout the series, though not directly. Check out the pendant above. While rope repeates itself in metal and fabric throughout other pieces, here where it seems intuitive, it's replaced with a delicate metal chain posing as rope. The cheeky joke keeps both the balance and spontaneity of the item in check.
The girls have branched out to achieve these whimsical, delicate works. They collected train sets and used the plastic human forms to make casts. Then they mix-and-matched animal heads and bodies and soldered the pieces together. The end result is interesting, fulfilling in design elements and completely lust-worthy.
