I have found out that you do not always have to go out
looking for art that may be hidden within your community… sometimes it will
find you. This is precisely what
happened to me one day at the beauty shop. As I sat in the salon chair, trying not to get dye in my
eyes, my good friend’s husband, who had just recently retired as a full time
veterinarian, gave her a call and announced that he had a new business –
creating pet tombstones.
Seriously? I couldn’t
believe that this man that once spent his life saving the lives of animals, was
now assisting in burying them. I
would have to see this for myself!
From
the moment I walked into George’s shop, located in the piney woods of northwest
Louisiana, just steps from his backdoor, I could tell he was a man who loved his work. Like a kid in a candy
store, he demonstrated in detail how he could transform a plain piece of metal
into objects that appeal to the eye and capture the creative side of metal fabrication. I watched,
amazed, as he programmed an image into his plasma-CAM, using skills that would
make any mathematician proud.
The resulting artwork that his machine produced made it clear that this
amazing piece of technology has opened up possibilities in metal fabrications
that were never before possible.
George intends to expand the range of his metal work by combining
plasma technology with Photoshop to create a unique style of portraiture in metal.
George
adds his own personal flair to his welding pieces creating anything from
tombstones, to signs, to portraits in an effort to make his mark on this
community. Like others who have
experienced how art provides the ability to transcend the barriers of
traditional language and communicate on a whole new level, George has developed
a desire to create new things.
His pieces can be found dotted throughout Claiborne Parish where they
illustrate identities, define realities, and record bits of history within this
small rural community.
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