MADWIND CRAFTSMAN
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STORY BY BETSY ILER PHOTOS BY KENNETH BOONE & COURTESY OF JOHN HOWELL
Alexander City metal craftsman John Howell was 16 when he took his first metalwork job, welding, running equipment and drawing at the worldrenowned metal fabricator, Robinson Iron. He studied industrial engineering at the University of Alabama and returned to Robinson Iron several years later. By 2010, Howell was on the road as a project manager with the company, refurbishing national monuments, lighthouses and taking on other high profile projects. But in 2017, Howell left Robinson Iron to launch Madwind Studio, where he custom designs and crafts unique, eye-popping elements for homes and businesses around the lake and beyond. “I wanted the freedom to be creative, to use both my mind and my hands on a daily basis,” Howell said. “To have an idea and the tools, space and resources to take that idea to a finished piece and to sell it.” Most of his work is done in collaboration with home and business owners that want statement pieces, like the 9-foot metal window frames he is crafting
The base of a conference table was salvaged from an old beam
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for a Lake Martin home’s master bath. “There will be a bathtub in front of these,” he explained as he ground the joints of thin metal bands that create the look of glass panes in the massive panels. Howell’s style is rustic and modern, and his projects are one-of-a-kind, from the turkey-feather tap handles he sculpted and cast for former SpringHouse executive chef Rob McDaniel’s new Helen Bar & Grill in Birmingham to the brass-wrapped walnut bar and stools in process at his Jackson’s Gap studio. “Most of what I do is an aged modern look. It’s modern in design, but I use natural materials and then age the metal,” he said. Howell opened his studio in a small metal shop four years ago but added a 2,500-square-foot workspace last year to accommodate an expansion of woodwork in his finished pieces. His commitment to quality is personal and uncompromising. “When it leaves here, I try to make sure I never have to revisit it,” Howell said. But not every moment in his studio is spent in the throes of design and finished masterpieces. In between, there are long hours spent in hard, often repetitive work. “In the beginning, I had to decide if I could really spend all day grinding or painting on the same piece. That was a challenge, but I’ve learned to channel that into good thinking time, so it’s worked out,” Howell said. To that end, he has refined his craft over the years. “I’ve learned or developed techniques to improve my process. It takes getting the details right – taking something and figuring it out, refining the design, so it’s something I don’t mind leaving, something I can be proud of,”
APRIL 2021
