John McWilliam has a special relationship with wood – particularly old and soulful pieces, salvaged from long-gone buildings.
“I’m always on a hunt for repurposed wood,” says the founder and owner of Scátháin, a workshop, studio and atelier in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “Some wood has no interest. Some is, ‘Oh my god I need that!’ It might not be attached to a current project, but I feel that it has a story to tell one day.”
McWilliam has a story of his own, and it’s told in every curve of forged steel, each hand-made drawer pull on bespoke chests of drawers, the rustic/industrial-chic interiors he and his team have created for luxury hotels, and the mirrors that started McWilliam on his artisanal journey. The name of his company, pronounced “skuh-thayn,” is Gaelic for “mirror”; the mirrors in question are veined and clouded, looking like ancient reflections of air, water and energy.
The inspiration for art mirrors happened back in 2008, when McWilliam’s first customer and collaborator gave him the keys to a warehouse full of building materials rescued from an 1800s structure. “There were a whole ton of industrial steel windows,” he recalls. “My client said, let’s make these into mirrors! We’ll sell them on eBay!”
eBay never happened. Instead, McWilliam got his hands on old-fashioned “silvering” materials and techniques, and transformed mere mirrors into dimensional works of art. “I ended up going crazy with the finishes,” he recalls. He eventually developed unique techniques involving silver nitrate, etching, pre-staining of the glass, and multiple layers of silvering. The resulting mirrors have been described as “alluring disruptions in smooth glass.”
McWilliam’s mirrors marked the beginning of a lucrative career as a maker and a designer, but it was by no means his first artistic endeavor. The Milwaukee native, one of seven kids, was born with an artistic soul. He started playing classical guitar as a child (André Segovia is a musical hero) and, along with his brothers, spent years pursuing a serious music career with a series of all-original bands. While seeking their big break, John made a living painting houses. “I ended up doing high-end decorative painting,” he says. “I literally climbed the ladder of painting.”
When the recession of ’08 hit, McWilliam’s client pool dried up. “I was left with nothing to do.” Enter Tim Dixon and the project that would eventually become The Iron Horse, a hotel and restaurant complex that has helped make Milwaukee a destination for motorcycle enthusiasts (and others). McWilliam’s work is all over the property; from an initial first batch of old barstools, restored in record time, he has manufactured furniture, light fixtures and finishes for the place; his original mirror prototype still hangs there, and he’s recently embarked on a major upholstery project for the hotel.
Upholstery is one of the newest services offered by Scátháin, which is housed in a 45,000 square foot factory in Milwaukee’s Fifth Ward. McWilliam, who started as a one-man shop, seems still slightly astonished by the popularity of his company’s products – clients include Kohler, A-list designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard, actor Neil Patrick Harris, and at least one Kardashian – and is perpetually in awe of the talents of his 30-person crew. “We have wood workers, metal smiths, designers. We have expert artisans that come in with a lot of knowledge, and also creative people that we train. All we need is a good work ethic and a knack for working with your hands. You can come in as a metal work student and eventually become a department head.” McWilliam notes that Scátháin has become a destination for artisans across the country. “There’s a line of people waiting to get in, specifically for blacksmithing.” Scátháin’s current resident blacksmith is Ann Klicka, who is also revered as a teacher and a sculptor.
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