When creativity and steel become art
By Susan Giller
In the steel and fire that shape industrial pipes, agricultural implements, truck beds, and bumpers, Michelle Flores found an artistic pursuit drawing rave reviews on Instagram and at festivals and farmers’ markets around the Imperial Valley.
She fabricates custom signs, plaques, lanterns, monograms, memorials, and a stunning variety of custom pieces from sheet metal on a powerful computer-controlled plasma cutting table. She breathes life into her inspirations amid a thriving industrial operation, Arc Performance Welding and Fabrication, which she and her husband and master welder, Chris, operate in a large metal building behind their rural Calipatria farmhouse.
A growing legion of fans is quick to rave about the range and beauty of pieces Michelle Flores started creating and showing in the last couple of years. Though made of steel, some of the pieces appear stunningly intricate and delicate. There is a plaque of the cowboy hat adorned with scrolling flowers sitting atop a pair of cowboy boots. Flores shows a series of metal-cut monograms she made with elaborate embellishments. Her work draws lots of Instagram love and sweet sentiments. “Loved this…” says one. “So pretty,” adds another comment.
A photo of a wall full of ornate crosses, one of which Flores fabricated, came with the Instagram comment, “When I saw this beauty, I knew I needed to add it to our collection. The work is amazing! Highly recommended for your metalwork.”
There is a metal yard sign of an expressive Australian shepherd wearing a collar with the name Bailey that got the Instagram comment, “Thank you so much. We like it a lot.”
Instead of her craft, Flores prefers to talk about Arc Performance Welding and Fabrication. Over the past 12 years, the welding and metal fabricating business has grown dramatically. Today, it employs four people and does welding and fabricating for large-scale industrial and agricultural projects throughout the Imperial Valley, the state, and the nation.
“When we got the plasma (cutting) table, I knew I had to step up and do more,” she said. Just operating the unit took some doing. Project designs are created on the computer screen that controls the unit’s high-speed, precision plasma cutter. The computer-controlled system operates faster and more precisely than any other cutting method.
However, learning to run the $32,000 plasma table took some work. After a one-day training session, the couple brought the unit back to Calipatria. That is when the real learning began.
“We destroyed a lot of metal in the process,” Chris Flores said.
In the three years since the plasma table arrived, Michelle Flores started doing powder coating finishes to add to Arc Performance’s service. And she began to create decorative items to add to the portfolio of products that the firm produces and markets on Instagram.
The computer-controlled plasma cutting table now stands in a place of honor in the Arc Performance Welding and Fabricating shop. It can cut projects from 10 by 5 foot sheets of metal in a fraction of the time it used to take with a precision never before possible. At Arc Performance, the plasma table cuts precision parts from heavy-duty steel sheets for industrial projects. Decorative projects are made of lighter weight, though still substantial, steel sheets.
While the table and all the other complex welding and fabricating equipment are essential for Arc Performance’s work, the range of projects completed and visible throughout the Valley and beyond gives the Flores the most satisfaction. And pride.
Michelle Flores’ work has drawn an Instagram following and fans at numerous local events and festivals. She admits her favorite projects are memorials, some of which have been installed along highways.
“Whenever a customer wants a memorial, I love doing it,” she said. “Keeping those memories is special. And when they love it, I feel like I did my job.”
However, she is quick to point out that the gates, handrails, fences, shade structures, and other large installations on display and working throughout the Valley are her husband’s handiwork.
The lighted Spot 805 sign that hangs over the outdoor bar and grill on Brawley’s Main Street is an Arc Performance creation, as is an elaborate and stately entry gate at Brandt Ranches in rural Calipatria. There is an Arc Welding entry gate at the Cattle Call Arena.
However, many of Arc Performance’s less visible projects are essential industrial, military, municipal, and agricultural operations. From geothermal pipe welding to ag agricultural gates and truck bed and bumper modification, Arc Performance does it all – on projects throughout the Valley and far beyond.
It was to keep more of their work in the Valley that the Flores couple founded Arc Performance. Chris Flores learned basic welding skills as a Calipatria High School student. After graduation, he went on to gain certifications to work on increasingly diverse and complex projects. As an independent welder with a well-equipped truck, Flores had a ticket to work on projects year-round on military installations and industrial projects throughout California and in other states.
He and Michelle even moved into a fifth-wheel trailer with their infant son, Austin, on a full-time basis about 16 years ago to keep the family together wherever welding jobs required.
After about four years, the couple decided Austin and their welding business needed a home base. They moved back to the Valley and set up their home in Brawley, Michelle’s hometown. They also founded Arc Performance in a rented space in Calipatria. And the business took off.
Before long, they needed more space. They found the site about two years ago in a 10-acre parcel outside of Calipatria with a large metal industrial space that Arc Performance needed and a tiny old house begging for work.
Even as Arc Performance got busier, the couple took on a dramatic renovation of the housing structure that turned what had been a 1,400-square-foot house into a show-stopping modern farmhouse.
It is just the ticket for a couple whose determination and creativity are energized by a dedication to steel and fire.
In the steel and fire that shape industrial pipes, agricultural implements, truck beds, and bumpers, Michelle Flores found an artistic pursuit drawing rave reviews on Instagram and at festivals and farmers’ markets around the Imperial Valley.
She fabricates custom signs, plaques, lanterns, monograms, memorials, and a stunning variety of custom pieces from sheet metal on a powerful computer-controlled plasma cutting table. She breathes life into her inspirations amid a thriving industrial operation, Arc Performance Welding and Fabrication, which she and her husband and master welder, Chris, operate in a large metal building behind their rural Calipatria farmhouse.
A growing legion of fans is quick to rave about the range and beauty of pieces Michelle Flores started creating and showing in the last couple of years. Though made of steel, some of the pieces appear stunningly intricate and delicate. There is a plaque of the cowboy hat adorned with scrolling flowers sitting atop a pair of cowboy boots. Flores shows a series of metal-cut monograms she made with elaborate embellishments. Her work draws lots of Instagram love and sweet sentiments. “Loved this…” says one. “So pretty,” adds another comment.
A photo of a wall full of ornate crosses, one of which Flores fabricated, came with the Instagram comment, “When I saw this beauty, I knew I needed to add it to our collection. The work is amazing! Highly recommended for your metalwork.”
There is a metal yard sign of an expressive Australian shepherd wearing a collar with the name Bailey that got the Instagram comment, “Thank you so much. We like it a lot.”
Instead of her craft, Flores prefers to talk about Arc Performance Welding and Fabrication. Over the past 12 years, the welding and metal fabricating business has grown dramatically. Today, it employs four people and does welding and fabricating for large-scale industrial and agricultural projects throughout the Imperial Valley, the state, and the nation.
“When we got the plasma (cutting) table, I knew I had to step up and do more,” she said. Just operating the unit took some doing. Project designs are created on the computer screen that controls the unit’s high-speed, precision plasma cutter. The computer-controlled system operates faster and more precisely than any other cutting method.
However, learning to run the $32,000 plasma table took some work. After a one-day training session, the couple brought the unit back to Calipatria. That is when the real learning began.
“We destroyed a lot of metal in the process,” Chris Flores said.
In the three years since the plasma table arrived, Michelle Flores started doing powder coating finishes to add to Arc Performance’s service. And she began to create decorative items to add to the portfolio of products that the firm produces and markets on Instagram.
The computer-controlled plasma cutting table now stands in a place of honor in the Arc Performance Welding and Fabricating shop. It can cut projects from 10 by 5 foot sheets of metal in a fraction of the time it used to take with a precision never before possible. At Arc Performance, the plasma table cuts precision parts from heavy-duty steel sheets for industrial projects. Decorative projects are made of lighter weight, though still substantial, steel sheets.
While the table and all the other complex welding and fabricating equipment are essential for Arc Performance’s work, the range of projects completed and visible throughout the Valley and beyond gives the Flores the most satisfaction. And pride.
Michelle Flores’ work has drawn an Instagram following and fans at numerous local events and festivals. She admits her favorite projects are memorials, some of which have been installed along highways.
“Whenever a customer wants a memorial, I love doing it,” she said. “Keeping those memories is special. And when they love it, I feel like I did my job.”
However, she is quick to point out that the gates, handrails, fences, shade structures, and other large installations on display and working throughout the Valley are her husband’s handiwork.
The lighted Spot 805 sign that hangs over the outdoor bar and grill on Brawley’s Main Street is an Arc Performance creation, as is an elaborate and stately entry gate at Brandt Ranches in rural Calipatria. There is an Arc Welding entry gate at the Cattle Call Arena.
However, many of Arc Performance’s less visible projects are essential industrial, military, municipal, and agricultural operations. From geothermal pipe welding to ag agricultural gates and truck bed and bumper modification, Arc Performance does it all – on projects throughout the Valley and far beyond.
It was to keep more of their work in the Valley that the Flores couple founded Arc Performance. Chris Flores learned basic welding skills as a Calipatria High School student. After graduation, he went on to gain certifications to work on increasingly diverse and complex projects. As an independent welder with a well-equipped truck, Flores had a ticket to work on projects year-round on military installations and industrial projects throughout California and in other states.
He and Michelle even moved into a fifth-wheel trailer with their infant son, Austin, on a full-time basis about 16 years ago to keep the family together wherever welding jobs required.
After about four years, the couple decided Austin and their welding business needed a home base. They moved back to the Valley and set up their home in Brawley, Michelle’s hometown. They also founded Arc Performance in a rented space in Calipatria. And the business took off.
Before long, they needed more space. They found the site about two years ago in a 10-acre parcel outside of Calipatria with a large metal industrial space that Arc Performance needed and a tiny old house begging for work.
Even as Arc Performance got busier, the couple took on a dramatic renovation of the housing structure that turned what had been a 1,400-square-foot house into a show-stopping modern farmhouse.
It is just the ticket for a couple whose determination and creativity are energized by a dedication to steel and fire.