William Baran-Mickle is a sculptor living and working in Brainbridge Island, Washington.
He has loved jewellery since he was a child and graduated from the School for American Craftsmen (Rochester Institute of Technology). Following  a year after college spent on a jewellery and smithing project, he decided to develop his skills further and returned to college, and graduated with MA in Contemporary Art History.
Baran-Mickle also enjoyed writing about art, which allowed him get out of the studio and meet other artists. To date he has been published in 9 books, has had eight solo exhibitions  and participated in over 100 collaborative exhibitions across the country and several European countries.
Recently, the sculptor has enjoyed exhibiting in several international art biennial exhibitions. Of the three in which he has participated, he won Third Place for Sculpture from the European Confederation of Art Critics in the Chianciano Biennale, at the Chianciano Art Museum in Italy, 2011; and First Place in Applied Arts in the London Biennale, 2013.
For Baran-Mickle smithing implies a transformation of the metal from one shape to another, from a flat, formless sheet to a volume, a shape, a form. The artist developed his  style while trying to find a balance between producing commercial work and personal artistic integrity. He has gone through many “phases” or styles, always evaluating and developing.

By Cecilia Durisotto       

Delicated Gifts, metal wall relief