Meet David Broussard of Jeweled Steel by Broussard

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Broussard.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was a full-time musician when I moved to Dallas in late 1975. Through a series of events, I ended up becoming a hair stylist and built a very strong following that lasted almost 35 years. In December of 1999, I prayed for a new gift that would give me the same passion as I had playing music. Six months later, I heard there was a 24-hour welding class held at Creative Art Center of Dallas. (I’ve always wanted to learn to weld) It was a six-week course; one day a week, 4 hours each day. I loved it and the first thing I made was a cross to hang in my hair salon. It stayed on the wall for less than an hour.

One of my clients made a comment about it twice and the third time, asked where I got it. When I said I actually made it, they asked if they could purchase it. I made another to take its place and the same thing happened. Rarely did a cross I made hang on the wall for much more than a day or two. People just kept commenting on them and buying them when they found out I made them.

After about 40 -50 of them selling, my business partner turned to me and said that this was my answer to my prayer. She had to point it out to me because I really did not see it. I was having so much fun creating and that was enough for me. When I considered the possibility of this being an answer to my prayer, I prayed for some specific designs that would be totally different than anything on the market. All of a sudden, I started getting design ideas that would tell a story or convey an idea based on scripture. This was very exciting to me.

I was encouraged to apply for a major juried art show in Dallas. I really didn’t think people would be interested in crosses when there was so much art, sculpture, and jewelry to be had, but I took the chance and to my amazement, I was accepted. When I did the show, I had a figure in my head that I would have been very pleased with, but I did about 5 times that amount. I was blown away. I never looked back. The third show I did was GrapeFest 2001 in Downtown Grapevine.

That show had almost 300K people in attendance on Saturday alone and I gained a large following. I was now established as an artist in the DFW area. I was always thinking outside the box, even though 95% of everything I made were crossed. I did make some unusual tables and some sculpture and that always draws a different customer, but for the most part, crosses were my focus.

In 2002, a friend invited me to go to the NRB Convention (National Religious Broadcasters). This is where everything Christian media comes together, including television, radio and publishing. He had a booth set up and asked me to bring a couple of my standing cross sculptures. I brought three of them and there I met Max Greiner.

Max is a world-famous sculptor and his work can even be found in the Vatican. When he saw my cross sculptures, he said I did beautiful glass work. He could hardly believe they were steel until he picked one up. He asked how long I had been working in steel and I told him a year. He was thinking more like 2o years and told me I had an anointing as an artist. He offered to mentor me so I would not get bogged down making all the mistakes to learn the ropes. He has been such a blessing to me through these years.

Max has opened the Coming King Sculpture Prayer Garden in Kerrville Texas, a 24 acre garden with $3 million worth of sculpture in it and I am one of the artists with two pieces. The three nail photo is one of my sculptures entitled “It Is Finished” and the nails are approximately 12 ft long.

Has it been a smooth road?
It has not always been a smooth road. A good friend told me I should get into wholesaling my art. I did wholesale for about 4 years and was pretty successful at it, even though I was competing with cheap Chinese made crosses. I had about 75 stores that carried my work, including the National Cathedral in Washington DC. I established an account which is still active with Loretto Chapel in Sante Fe, NM. From their gift shop, my crosses have gone all over the world and we’ve shipped orders to Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America as well as Canada and every state in the U.S. I’ve even made two custom crosses for the Church of England. They found me on Google. (Yea Google!)

Emmanuel van Hulst worked with me for at least 10 years. I’ve known him since the day he was born as I was good friends with his parents. When I started playing with metal, he wanted to come over and watch. The next thing I know, he wants to do what I’m doing. He’d watch and pay attention to every move I made. This kid was amazing. Everything I showed him, he could master in no time. Emmanuel became my right-hand man and I could tell him to do something and forget about it. I knew it would be done perfectly.

When I got into wholesaling my work, I had to up the game to be able to fill the orders coming in. I had Emmanuel teach a couple of guys the basics in order to pick up the slack. It was extremely fast paced and crazy. I woke up one morning and realized I was no longer a creative artist but instead, I had become a manufacturer filling the orders as they came in. The joy of creating was just not the same. I realized I had to make a hard call. I had to let three men go. That was the hardest thing I have ever done because I had come to love these guys… We were family. Only Emmanuel continued to work with me. (He is now married with two beautiful boys and his own fixer-upper business.)

I am self-taught. I have never had a teacher except for the one who taught me the basics of welding in the initial course I took… When you do something 10’s of thousands of times and mix it up, always trying new ideas, you learn a lot. I would pray if I wanted to do something new and I’d get the answer pretty quickly; sometimes just a revelation on how to do something and then at other times, I’d make a mistake that would end up being just the perfect solution. That’s happened many time throughout my career.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Jeweled Steel by Broussard story. Tell us more about the business.
The name of my company is Jeweled Steel. Years ago, I learned how to polish stones. A plain rock can be made beautiful if you know how to polish it. You can take a quality rock and turn it into a jewel. I’ve transferred that knowledge over to steel. I can take an ugly piece of steel and polish it to give it depth, texture, and movement.

Then I take a blow torch and the heat oxidizes the steel and turns it different colors. Because there is no film of paint covering the polished finish, all the depth shows through. I polish each piece in such a way that it actually has a holographic effect to it. It can be hanging on a wall and if you keep your eye on it, it moves and changes colors as you move. I turn a plain piece of steel into something of worth and beauty.

I show my work at Canton First Monday Trade Days and I’m in Arbor 3, right at the entrance to the grounds. Still to this day, one of the most gratifying things to me is when I see people walking by, seeing my work for the first time and watch their mouth drop open and say ‘WOW!’ I never get tired of that and the biggest compliment is still when I hear people ask if it is glass.

I specialize in making crosses. My crosses are different from every other cross you’ll find on the market. Each design has a name and meaning behind the design. People who purchase my crosses have an emotional connection from reading the meaning of the piece. Each design has a specific reason for the way it is put together. Those things working together is what sets my work apart from other artists making crosses.

To this day, we continue to hear people say they’ve never seen anything like it. And the people who purchase from us continue to shop with us year after year. I have many customers who own just about every design I’ve created. Many of our sales, especially on our website, are for gifts. Our customers love the beauty and meaning behind the designs and they love to share them with their friends and family.

I think one of the things I am most proud of is that in 17 years, I have only had two (2) or three (3) returns. That is unheard of. I can hardly believe it. I’ve sold hundreds of thousands of these crosses with only 2-3 returns. I’m very pleased with those numbers. I believe the reason for this is because I put my heart and soul into what I do. I strive for excellence and if it isn’t good enough to my standards, no one will ever see it.

Where do you see your industry going over the next 5-10 years?  Any big shifts, changes, trends, etc?
I am branching out into the home decor market. I have been creating some custom designs for private homes and offices. I’m now working with architects, interior designers, and builders.

As far as crosses go, I’ve never thought of it as an industry but I guess it is. I’ve had manufacturers want to take my work and have it mass produced in China, but I cannot do that. Everything I do and stand for is all about relationship and I’d be selling out if I were to do that.

The next 5 10 years will be finding the right people who I can find to pass this on to so it will not stop when I’m gone. Many people have been touched in a deep way because of my art and I want this to continue.

Contact Info:

• Address: 231 VZ County Rd 4104
  Canton, TX 75103
• Website: www.JeweledSteel.com
• Phone: 214-546-3655
• Email: David@JeweledSteel.com
• Instagram: instragram.com/jeweled_steel
• Facebook: facebook.com/jeweledsteel

Image Credit:
Hunter Jackson Photography, Steve Woods

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.