BRUNSWICK

Tucked in a tiny space in the back of

Fort Andross, Bowdoin College artist-in-residence John Bisbee churns out beautiful works of art from the humble 12-inch nail — well, actually hundreds of 12-inch nails — but as Bisbee’s mantra goes, “Only nails, always different.”

“This is the best view in America right here — this is what I see every day. It’s absolutely stunning,” Bisbee said to a group recently touring several businesses in the huge Brunswick building. Swinging his studio door open, Bisbee has sweeping views of the Androscoggin River from his forge.

Bisbee said he’s been working with nails for the past 30 years and with humans for the last five. Bisbee’s crew of “handsome athletes,” as he calls them, are artists themselves who do the heavy lifting around the studio.

“This is what we do every day with three or four bodies flying around here with red hot steel,” Bisbee said. Somehow, four bodies and Bisbee’s tiny dog make it work in the cramped space.

Bisbee said he and his team spend their days “exploring” new ways of creating — using the nail as a medium. He showed off a few of their explorations.

“This is what happened last week and we figured out how to make barbed wire out of the nails, which I absolutely adore and it’s kind of tough,” Bisbee said.

Bisbee also showed off a piece he was working on for Harvard Business School.

With many accolades, fellowships and solo exhibitions both locally and around the country, Bisbee fondly remembered coming to a much humbler Fort Andross decades ago.

Bisbee said he was the second tenant in the fort in 1996. He said it was him, Shoe Renu and fort owner, Anthony Gatti.

Bisbee credits Gatti and Waterfront Maine for turning the mill around.

Bisbee takes a nail out of the forge and, using a hydraulic press, begins stamping one spike against the heated one.

“One nail will turn another nail into rope — you get the texture there, things go flying,” Bisbee said, looking at the results. “You get this awesome rope texture in here from the nail.”

dmcintire@timesrecord.com

The mill

• FORT ANDROSS is a mill complex located on the Androscoggin River in Brunswick. The historic brick structure, once known as the Cabot Mill, has been rechristened “Fort Andross” after the original pre-Revolutionary fort erected on the same site in 1688.

• OVER THE YEARS, the mill has served a number of companies in a variety of businesses, including the manufacture of cotton cloth, woolen broadcloth, synthetics, shoes, brushes and woven fiberglass. In this tradition, the building’s phased renovation has followed a mixed use format, providing prime office, retail, light manufacturing and warehouse space.