“Are you sure/That we are awake? It seems to me/That, yet we sleep, we dream.” -William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Mystical, Gothic, Fantasy, Mesmerizing, Organic, and Enchanted are just a few words to describe the aura of this amazing fully custom cast bronze king size bed and nightstands set designed, built, and signed by local Kansas artist John Forsythe. He named this totally custom treasure “Dream,” as its theme is based around the epic story written by William Shakespeare “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Known for his use of reclaimed architectural salvage and brackets, John Forsythe hand created this mystical masterpiece full of hand-crafted fairies, sun, moon, and stars motifs using pieces of cast bronze, steel, and copper. Twisted roots and branches drape the copper pipe canopy bed posts creating a fantasy world for your slumber. It is breathtaking! The headboard is comprised of two walnut arched windowpanes, one with a bronze crescent moon in the corner and a cast bronze sun in the other. In the center, a hand-crafted fairy flutters its wings above the dark sky and bronze stars…probably sprinkling “fairy dust” to encourage sweet dreams as you sleep. Down at your feet walking proudly along the angled steel footboard is Pan himself and one more hand-crafted fairy perched between the cast bronze arches, and copper pipe posts. Steel siderails with thin strips of green and beige marble inlay grace the sides of the bed as well. The all-over natural patina has aged perfectly and gives an appearance that only time, and wear can create. Imperfectly perfect! This entire enchanted universe is erected upon four posts of solid Kansas limestone and salvaged cast iron Victorian shelf brackets slip into the limestone as corner pieces…and then you notice the two matching nightstands which pull this land of enchantment together exquisitely. Each nightstand has two walnut arched windowpanes that match the ones on the headboard, and they are held by cast bronze and steel sides with walnut tops. This whimsical world is one-of-a-kind and the stories within it are endless.
John Forsythe knew at an early age that he wanted to be an artist. He graduated from Emporia State University in 1976 with his BFA and started working with metals. He was employed as manager of Oxbow Foundry and befriended Eldon Tefft, Founder of the International Sculptor Guild and Chair of the University of Kansas Art Department, along with working with Master Sculptor Kuan Wu, he would further develop his skills. He established his own foundry in 1997, Veritas Bronze, located in Reading, Kansas. Since then, he has designed many well-known monumental pieces including “The Negro League Baseball Museum,” “Young Eisenhower,” “Seth Hays Memorial,” “War Memorial,” along with other prominent pieces including the Merrill Lynch Bull, Amarillo, Texas; Front Façade of New York, New York Casino, Las Vegas; League Baseball Players, Legacy Square-Pittsburgh Pirates Stadium, Pittsburgh, PA. Current projects include Pocket Park Statues in downtown Topeka, Kansas.
To quote the ever-so-popular fairy Tinkerbell…”A dream is a wish that your heart makes.” You need your wish to come true… Make this bedroom set yours!
