Evenson – Three Stone Steps

Evenson, who created this menorah in partnership with Three Stone Steps, lives and works in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, where he tansforms discarded, old 55-gallon oil drums into compelling pieces of art. He works by the light of the day using only hand tools. Croix-des-Bouquets, a town not far from the capital Port-au-Prince, was the birthplace of recycled metal oil drum art. Around mid-century, Georges Liautard, an ingenious blacksmith, used the metal from oil drums to fashion crosses for the local cemetery. In the 1950s, DeWitt Peters, an American artist who was working with Haitian artists, saw these crosses and encouraged Georges to create decorative art. From this collaboration, an art form was born. The Process: Fifty-five gallon oil drums are first cleaned by burning out residue. Then, using a lot of strength, they're flattened. Using the flattened drum as a canvas, an artist then traces an existing stencil--generally cut out of a used cardboard box--with chalk. Using a hammer and two or three sizes of chisels, the design is then cut. After that, the piece is polished with a wire brush and given a coat of clear lacquer and left to dry in the sun. About Three Stone Steps, the importer of these ethically sourced goods: Three Stone Steps partners with artists and fair trade producers around the globe to create people and planet friendly products. An avid traveler, Ellen Reich founded Three Stone Steps to merge her love of travel and her commitment to economic, social, and environmental justice with her keen sense of aesthetics. Ellen also counts herself among the ranks of the former English majors of the world, and even did some graduate studies in English. She did manage to get a masters degree in Labor Studies from UMASS Amherst.  She spends most days toiling away at the Three Stone Step worldwide headquarters (i.e. her very own Baltimore rowhouse) with Fellini, a dog of questionable provenance who was found in a nearby park. They like things to be straightforward here at Three Stone Steps.  They are about having a thoughtfully curated collection of fairly made and sustainable handicrafts. Simply put:  Three Stone Steps purchases its goods directly from the artisans who make them and they pay the artisans a fair price.