In one of the most original, sad, and, therefore, daunting tasks I’ve ever heard of, Natascha Whitehurst is using her talent for welding to fabricate her own parents’ tombstones.

Instead of the usual headstones, Natascha is crafting two oak stumps (made from a water heater tank), connected by a root (made from an exhaust pipe), bearing their names and dates etched in the metal.

Welder honors her Mother & Father

By Laura Gutschke
Posted January 2, 2010

TUSCOLA — Rusted metal scrap objects long past their original function are finding new life as art at the hands of Natascha Whitehurst.

One of her current projects also is her most personal. She is crafting out of a discarded water heater’s inner steel tank a double tombstone for her parents. The tombstone looks like two oak stumps connected by a root, to be made out of a vehicle exhaust pipe.

“Instead of buying new, I like using what is already out there,” Whitehurst said.

Rows of small welding beads will run down the side of the tank to resemble bark. On top of the 18-inch tree stump for her mother, Janice Sadler, who died on Jan. 1, 2009, will be a watering can to symbolize her nurturing of the family.

A rifle will be leaning against the stump for her father, Harley Sadler, who continues to work as a truck driver today, to represent his providing for the family and his love of hunting.

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It is the best kind of person who takes inspiration from adversity.

When Lee Soucie was laid off from his job with ONG Industries, he decided to start on a project that he’d been waiting years to do: welding a full-size Tin Man, with heart.

Playing Tin Man with heart

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 10:08 PM EST
By SCOTT WHIPPLE
Staff writer

BERLIN — No one would ever confuse Berlin with the Emerald City or 7-year-old Alyssa Watrous for Judy Garland’s character, Dorothy Gale in the classic film, Wizard of Oz.

Then, too, neither Watrous nor her 4-year-old sister, Kirsten have a dog named Toto.

However, what 52-year-old Lower Lane resident Lee Soucie has done with six feet of tubing is more than pure fantasy.

Nothing against the Scarecrow or the Cowardly Lion, but Soucie, a welder with time on his hands, says as a kid he loved this most-watched movie in history. His favorite character was the guy who needed a heart — the Tin Woodman.

“My granddaughters, Alyssa and Kirsten — their mouths dropped open — when they saw what I’d done,” he says.

What Soucie did was a metal sculpture. He says for five years he had wanted to make a welding of the Tin Man.

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Now that Christmas is long since past, it’s the perfect time for planning ahead and buying this coming year’s Christmas cards!

And what better cards could you possibly find than those of Santa Clause doing what he does best — welding?  That’s right, the jolly ol’ fellow is takin’ off some time to do some long-needed repairs around town.

I’m sure this is the best card I’ve seen of its kind — of which there are very few — and I’m sure you’ll join me in thanking Oliver Chipping for creating this marvelous card!

I’ve heard of method actors delving deeply into a part, but method welders?  Could be!  While Joseph Jilbert was welding his latest sculpture, a 16 foot tall crawfish, he ate and studied the crustacean for two weeks straight as preparation!

Boiled, fried or welded

By Jeff Moore • For the Daily World • January 3, 2010

When roving artist Joseph Jilbert landed in the Crawfish Capital of the World, he found an obvious subject for his larger-than-life sculptures.

Jilbert recently unveiled the product of that inspiration —
a 16-foot crawfish made of recycled scrap metal.

Dubbed Le Clarkii, for the crawfish’s scientific name, Procambrus Clarkii, the towering decapod is currently on display at Louisiana Purchases in Breaux Bridge.

Jilbert said the underbelly of the crawfish was made from old tractor parts, while the shell is made of parts from an old sugar-cane factory. The sculpture weighs in at a hefty 4,500 pounds.

“It’s more intense than any sculpture I’ve ever done,” said Jilbert, who ate and studied crawfish for two weeks straight while creating the sculpture. “I’ve gained a lot of respect for crawfish.”

Jilbert plans to eventually sell the crawfish and has several potential buyers lined up.

His next creation? A 45-foot version of the piece to be displayed at the Breaux Bridge exit of Interstate 10.

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It appears that wood and plain-old steel just aren’t cutting it any more.  No, for furniture with built-in character, try making it out of your old rusted-out cars!

Furniture from Old Car Parts? Yep.

By Jaime Derringer
Dec 8th 2009

Joel Hester’s love affair with old and vintage metals began two years ago.

A client brought him a small metal beer sign that he wanted to use as a top for a coffee table. Joel, who lives in Dallas, Texas, knew a little something about making furniture from unexpected materials; he was already welding steel into custom bed frames.

So he made the coffee table — and then got an idea. Why not start a business? He’s since developed a passion for making custom furniture out of old cars. He calls it The Weld House.

But why cars? Well, when he received the client’s beer sign, he wondered how he could make it work since the sign wasn’t large enough to wrap the top of the table for a smooth, seamless surface.

So, after over a month of struggling with the process, Joel ended up wandering through a junk yard looking for scrap metal that might work with the beer sign.

“I turned a corner and saw an old Cadillac,” he says. “Its large trunk was the coolest mixture of color and patterns. I knew I could skin the metal off the structure of the trunk and use it to wrap the top of the table.”

Joel instantly forgot about the beer sign and called his client proposing a new, different idea of how to create the table: an old car!

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Students at Norwood District High School are getting into the Christmas spirit by, you guessed it, welding.  This year, the senior class is helping out by manufacturing 22 metal stars that will decorate their town during this holiday season.

NDHS students will make Christmas brighter this year

Posted By Sue Dickens for The Community Press

Norwood – Stars will be shining a little bit brighter over Hastings this Christmas thanks to the talent and hard work of students in the manufacturing program at Norwood District High School (NDHS).

“We can’t thank them enough,” said Stephen Roddy, chair of the Hastings Revitalization Association(HRA), the organization that asked for the school’s help on the project.

For the Grade 12 students it’s all about giving back to their community and testing their metal so to speak as they weld and solder frames for 22 stars that will be placed on hydro poles in Hastings just in time for the holiday season.

“You couldn’t ask for better quality. I’ve been to the school and I am amazed at the workmanship of these students. And their teacher Tim Ellis has been a guiding light in all of this,” Roddy said.

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What are you welding for the holidays?  Share your ideas and pictures with us!

Three women at Butler Community College are working hard to dispel three myths – firstly, that women can’t be welders (obviously not), second, that welding isn’t as viable a tool as other art mediums, and thirdly, that there isn’t help out there for victims of abuse.

All untrue, and they’ve been able to make their stance abundantly clear through this one particular sculpture.

Women weld hope for those of domestic violence

Last Update: 10/21 6:20 pm
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BUTLER COUNTY, Kansas – Mary Coleman, Jessica Davis and Blake Rebholz – together they are helping dispel the notion that welding is a man’s job.

“When I first enrolled in the program I thought I was going to be the only woman,” Coleman said. “So it kind of scared me a little bit, but I was still going to go for it.”

It has been nearly eight years since any women enrolled in the program at Butler Community College – let alone three.

When El Dorado’s police chief heard about the trio, he contacted their instructor, Matthew Galbraith, to see if the ladies would consider working on a project to mark October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

“To let woman know that they have other options,” said Rebholz. “Like us, going into welding.”

So for the last few weeks, they’ve been working on a sculpture with a simple message that in another week or so will be permanently placed in front of the El Dorado Police Department.

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The Torch Queen. I’d love to have a nickname like that — well, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately (well, fortunately for her), this name has already been taken, and it belongs to Bonnie Wynn Ramirez of Indianapolis.

This Torch Queen lives up to her name by teaching her ongoing (and highly popular) welding classes in Indiana while still maintaining her Flameworks art studio out of Austin, Texas.

Local grandmother welds metal to dreams

Sep 14, 2009
Andrea Morehead/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis – The age-old art form of welding, before the hammering, soldering and sanding, requires the artisan to wear the proper gear. From the gloves to the goggles, this job is not for the faint of heart as the metal rain showers fall from the hands of The Torch Queen.

Bonnie Wynn Ramirez has been getting praise for her metal work since the nineties with commissioned work in the public and private sectors. The national recognition is the result of a desire for fire. It all began when she took a summer class.

“Summer in Texas, triple digits, welding, yeah. You sweat in places you didn’t know you could sweat,” Bonnie said.

The part-time course sparked a full-time interest for this grandmother. She then enrolled in the arts metal program at Austin Community College.

“It was my mid-life emancipation you know. No crisis for me. I’m like hand me a torch, I’m good,” she said.

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For more information about the Torch Queen and her ongoing and past projects, you can visit her website at www.torchqueen.com ->

The Crucible.  It’s not just a play by Arthur Miller –

The Crucible is an organization based out of Oakland, Ca that that trains people in the industrial and fine arts.

Ever wanted to learn how to weld?  Come to the Crucible.  How about blacksmithing?  Fire eating?  Enameling?  They’ve thought of everything!

My favorite is the Build Your Own Barbecue (BYOB) class.  You get to weld your own monster BBQ out of old scrap metal!

So, whilst I’m planning my move up to to Oakland (just kidding — although…), you too can get to know the Crucible with this video taken of a few of their welding instructors doing their thing at the Bay Area’s Maker Faire.

Here at Arc-Zone.com, we love to hear about people recycling their old scrap metal – saving the environment, doing some welding, and most of all – making art!  In Silver City, New Mexico, Stuart Engal of Custom Steelworks is recycling old lightposts.  With a little ingenuity, they are going to become a brand new welcome arch spanning the entrance of Silver City’s historic downtown center.

New gateway to visit visitors to downtown Silver City

By Christine Steele Sun-News Bureau Chief

Posted: 07/31/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

A local business owner is helping to create a custom-designed archway that will span Broadway and welcome visitors to historic downtown Silver City as part of a long-awaited Silver City MainStreet program.

Tommy Johnson, of Custom Steelworks, 202 Bullard St., welds steel plates joining four recycled Silver City lamp posts... (Sun-News photo by Christine Steele)

Custom Steelworks, 202 S. Bullard St., a local metal fabrication business owned by Stuart Egnal, is fabricating the nearly 20-foot columns that will support a steel sign that will say “Downtown Silver City.”

The Downtown Gateway Arch will be installed on Broadway, on the east end of the bridge near Hudson Street. The project is estimated to cost $100,000, including in-kind   and donated services and materials.

Egnal and employee Tommy Johnson have been working for several weeks on the project, welding together four steel columns that had previously been downtown lightposts. The lightposts date back to 1949. The city had been stockpiling them to use in the project, Egnal said.

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