Karly Stribling’s business, Soil & Steel, started as a half gardening/half metalwork business, has grown into mostly metalworking and sculpture business.
Growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, she attended DuPont Manual Magnet High School. While in high school she had the opportunity to intern for a local sculptor who introduced her to welding, which ultimately sparked her passion for metalwork. She moved to Knoxville in 2002 to attend the University of Tennessee as a sculpture major.
Prior to starting her business in 2010, she worked at many restaurants but kept pursuing her passion for art. “It’s not a fantastic living; hopefully it will be,” she says. But she notes that financial success is not the central motivating force: “As artists we make art because we can’t not do it.”
Several pieces were included in the January art show “Fe: Women working in Iron, Bronze, Aluminum and Steel” at Pellissippi State Community College. Her most recent installations include an archway at the entrance to The New Jewish Cemetery located on Middlebrook Pike, and an intricate gate to James Agee Park. In addition, images of her 2D and 3D work, commission pieces and sketchbook can be viewed on her website soilandsteel.com.