Dennis Schleder and Kevin Hethcote were both raised in Iowa but didn't cross paths until attending the University of Iowa School of Art. With a common interest in rock climbing, they formed a lasting relationship built upon trust.
Reconnecting many years later in the Pacific Northwest, they began working together remodeling homes in the Seattle area. Over long lunches and doppio espressos evolved the idea of co-owning a business based on doing what they loved best: creating inspired works in wood and metal. They are now living that novel dream with a successful DK Works studio and workshop.
Dennis Schleder
Dennis was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1968. He attended Grant Wood Elementary School where much emphasis was placed on art, creativity and the work of the artist for whom the school was named. His first experience with metal came from hanging out at his grandfather's fabrication shop where he was allowed to look, but not touch.
His college education continued in Iowa where he received a BFA in ceramics and metal sculpture. A semester abroad at an art school in Cortona, Italy broadened his approach as an artist as well as his appreciation of art in its many forms.
His twenties were full of travel and adventure. While on a half-year climbing trip in 1994, he literally ran into Kevin in the Utah desert. At the end of this trip, he found himself in Seattle where he has settled permanently.
In the late-nineties, he opened a sculpture studio where he focused on ceramic and found object figurative pieces. A commissioned metal fountain transitioned his craft into full-time metalworking. Welding coursework at Pratt Fine Arts Center and advanced instruction at Renton Technical College strengthened his technique and understanding as a metalworker. He taught for several years as a welding instructor at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle.
Dennis and his wife Tiffany live in North Seattle with their dogs Duke and Dixie.
Kevin Hethcote
Kevin is approaching his tenth year as a Seattle transplant, far from his Midwestern roots in Iowa City, Iowa. The design/build energies of his youth kept him busy transforming everything within his reach into forms both functional and fantastic.
Living briefly in Seattle after high school, he returned home long enough to attend the University of Iowa. He graduated in 1996 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree, concentrating on sculpture, design and metalworking; also obtaining a minor in Art History and in the American Indian and Native Studies Program.
With the opportunities of the big city beckoning, he found his way back to Seattle where he began working for a custom timber framing company building salvaged Douglas Fir structures and remodeling homes around the city. Two and a half years later, he formed his own tile company, which evolved into a successful general contracting business. While traveling in Europe in 2000, his appreciation of art history, fine craftsmanship and pastries blossomed.
Kevin married his lovely wife Kathryn in the Woodland Park Rose Garden in July of 2002. They have two wonderful girls, a finely-finally-finished fixer home in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood and a six year old red Aussie named appropriately, Phinney.
