by Loretta Radeschi

n Cumberland, Md., several artists and friends know firsthand the benefits of collaboration. They work together on projects, share ideas and create tools to work more safely and efficiently. As a result of sharing their knowledge, they say they have become better artists and have increased their marketing opportunities.

Work by metalsmith Kenny Braitman, whose collaborations include work with copper painter and weaver Suzanne Donazetti.

“When artists collaborate, the outcome is more than the work of art that has resulted from the undertaking,” says copper painter and weaver Suzanne Donazetti of Freefall Designs. “It’s a better understanding of your own craft and that of others.” “Your vision is expanded and your ideas grow in a way they might not have without collaborating,” adds ceramic artist and painter Larry Imes.

Donazetti, Imes, fine artist Bob Corrigan, and three-dimensional artists Dotti Heimert and Maggy Wagner are creating a 4x15-foot work on canvas titled “In Violation.”

The piece is aptly named. “Whenever two or more artists touch the same surface, that is a violation,” explains Donazetti. “Each of us sees something different in the canvas and, we’re adding our interpretation to the piece in the solitude of our studios. Some artists are hesitant to paint over another’s work, but we’re encouraging everyone to express themselves,” she says.

After completion, the painting will be photographed and promoted to art venues for exhibition. It will begin its run at Expression in Fine Art gallery in Santa Fe. Smaller works of each artist will also be displayed.

“Collaborating is tough,” admits Donazetti. “Because I’m a very solitary worker, I like the way we collaborated on ‘In Violation.’ The hard part of any collaboration is allowing each artist full creative expression.”

Metalsmith Kenny Braitman likened collaboration to a good debate where you have two people willing to listen to another’s point of view. Braitman is forging frames for Donazetti’s copper weavings. He’s also shown her how to make free-hanging woven spiraled pieces. She, in turn, shares her knowledge of how to add color to metal.

Donazetti also collaborates with her husband, photographer/sculptor Kenneth Payne. He designs and fabricates burnished copper tubing frames for her screens, as well as unusual hanging systems for commissioned projects.

Jim Odgers of Mettle Arts Studio and Foundry offers lost wax casting to artists who create small-scale bronze sculptures. His is the only foundry in western Maryland to offer that service. He’s been casting work by figurative artist and sculptor Michael Ross of Washington, D.C., whose small sculptures commemorate the history of local neighborhoods. They’re displayed in historic fire and police call boxes along Connecticut Avenue and in the capital’s Mt. Pleasant area.

A Braitman and Donazetti collaboration featuring a steel frame by Braitman and painted copper by Donazetti.

As a result of knowing Odgers, furniture maker Margaret Romero recently applied for her first public, exterior work. Odgers is teaching Romero about metal and concrete castings and is working with her to cast tassels and trim that she can apply to a concrete bench.

In exchange for a kiln from Odgers and the labor of Donazetti and others to help him rebuild it, Imes will teach them how to work with clay.

ll art is collaboration, states Braitman, a retired professor from Frostburg University. “We’re inspired by artists who have come before us and those we know and with whom we share knowledge and ideas. Successful collaboration is a matter of attitude, process and medium.

“Having two or more fiercely independent people work on the same project together, as Suzanne and I are dong, requires compromise and an ability to get beyond and outside of yourself,” Braitman explains.

“How you select the process has to do with the attitude of the artists, and how you work their attitude into the process,” he adds. In his opinion, the use of the material dictates the process. He and Donazetti had to think of the joinery of attaching steel to copper. Because they both like to work in solitude, they would sketch, pass the drawings back and forth, and after mulling over them separately, get together again.

“You’ll find a great deal of collaboration among artists in Cumberland,” comments Romero. “Generally, we’re older and many have retired from other professions. We’re not scrappy. We’re willing to share what we know. Also, because this is a small town, we run into each other frequently. If there’s a misunderstanding, we’re quick to call and discuss it.”

Loretta Radeschi is a Pennsylvania-based free-lance writer.

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