Brand Stories:
There’s a story behind every fire pit from Fire Pit Art. Each one is another page in the narrative of talented metal artist Rick Wittrig. For Wittrig, creating these beautiful pieces is a labor of love.
“Where others might see a pile of rusty metal, I see art in the making,” he says. “I want to reach in there, and pull something out. I want to cut it, and shape it, and mold it, and make it a thing of beauty.”
Wittrig learned metalworking while growing up in a small Illinois Mennonite community. As a result, his work stands apart from big-box-store type fire pits. Yet it was a store-bought fire pit that served as the inspiration for Fire Pit Art.
Years ago, he and his family purchased one, hoping to enjoy an evening of roasting marshmallows.
“It promptly fell apart and caught the yard on fire,” Wittrig relates with a bit of a smile. “I turned to my wife, and I said, ‘I can build a better one.’”
"I can build a better one."
That’s the moment Fire Pit Art was born, and Wittrig has been creating beautiful masterpieces ever since. Each of his fire pits is given careful attention, with every element crafted by hand. They’re built with thick metals, and Wittrig uses an inside weld to join the bowl to the base on each one. While difficult, this results in a completely smooth joint with no outside evidence of the weld.
Wittrig’s fire pits offer a place where you can gather with family and friends. A place to forget the pressures of the world. With all our modern distractions, it’s refreshing to come home, sit around a fire, and have real together time, he says.
Fire Pit Art fire pits have been featured across the world in hotels, restaurants, golf courses, theme parks, and more. They’ve even been spotted at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Their reach will only continue to expand—Wittrig is committed to creativity and excellence, and it truly shows.