A Beaumont-Wilshire Creatives Series
Before he started hand drawing his designs, Beaumont-Wilshire resident Kehrnan Shaw didn’t think of himself as an artist. Until he “gave up the ruler” and lost the rigidity imposed by his profession, he referred to himself as a landscape planner. But when a client asked him to design a gate leading into a garden, Kehrnan broke away from the dictates of the ruler and turned to sketching by hand. He wanted a design that evoked natural surroundings — something organic and fluid.
While nervous about using a new material, he laid a sheet of steel on a work surface. Using a piece of soapstone, he hand-sketched a design onto the steel plate. Then, using a cutting torch — a technique Kehrnan now refers to as “primitive” — he cut the design from the metal. That was the beginning: Instead of creating in wood and stone, he turned to steel.
Kehrnan confesses that he still uses a ruler — perhaps more than he did before — to turn steel into art, but his pieces still begin with hand-sketched designs for creations that bridge the realms of landscape design and art. Kehrnan says that sometimes he can come up with an idea in about 15 minutes, but to refine it, the creative process can take hours.
“The key is trying to get my brain connected to my fingers without words getting in the way,” says Kehrnan. “The language you’re speaking switches from words to lines, shapes, and patterns.”
The sculpture appears to undulate, pulsing with life.
Kehrnan creates gates, hanging screens, and pieces he refers to as “in-wall” and “on-wall” art. Many of his creations can be seen in Portland-area gardens — some right here in the Beaumont-Wilshire neighborhood.
The pieces Kehrnan creates are inspired by the life of the garden.
“Though the landscape supplies context,” he says, “the art stands on its own.”
Just as a skilled sculptor can create a life-like rendering from stone, so Kehrnan can evoke suggestions of leaves, buds, branches, tendrils, and thorns (his favorite) from steel.
Once Kehrnan has drawn a design on paper, he scans the image to make a computer file. He then makes a template to send to a precision steel cutter who cuts out the design. The piece is then taken to a welder where hinges or other attachments needed for mounting the work are welded in place. In the last step of the process, the entire piece is treated with a powder-coated finish.
One of the reasons Kehrnan’s art blends with its organic surroundings is because of the powder-coating, which protects the steel from the elements and gives it more depth. The tiny grains of glass infused with bits of bronze offer both texture and color.
“The powder coating catches the light, cloaking the steel with a surface that calls to mind movement and growth,” he says. “The sculpture appears to undulate, pulsing with life.”
Kehrnan is gratified when the creative process expands his abilities, inviting him to push the materials and his own skills to the next level.
“The key to creating a successful piece of art is to let the piece direct you,” says Kehrnan. “Don’t force it. Let imagination, circumstance, and adaptation be your guides.”
This is Kehrnan’s ruler now, and he’s fine with that.
For photos and more information on Kehrnan’s steel sculptures, visit kehrnanshawstudios.com/Steelworks/.
Pamela Plimpton, a B-W resident since 1980, retired as a professor of English in 2020. Her interests include reading, writing, gardening, and singing with a community chorale. She and her husband enjoy playing golf, working out at the N.E. Community Center, traveling, and grandparenting their granddaughter.