My Story

One of the questions I am asked most often is how I got started welding scrap metal art.  Here is my story.

In 2017 I injured my back, and for a while, I was unable to work at my job as a freelance court reporter.  While I was off work awaiting spinal surgery (the first of many), I was desperate to find ways to occupy my time.  I am not a fan of daytime TV, and I'm not usually content to sit around doing nothing.  During my down time, I started spending a fair amount of my time on Pinterest and started coming across items of scrap metal art as I perused the popular platform.  I was captivated by many of the ideas I was finding where artists had taken old hand tools and/or ordinary scraps of metal and repurposed them by welding them into creations of art.  I showed a few of the amazing pieces I had found to my husband hoping to spark some interest in him.  You see, we are farmers, and every farmer I know has plenty of scrap parts laying around.  Honestly, I didn't think he paid much attention to what I had showed him.  I was wrong.

The next thing I knew, he bought me an inexpensive wire feed flux core welder and had me come out to his shop for a very basic welding lesson.  Now, to say that my welding skills were bad is an understatement.  I was lousy.  However, I had a lot of time on my hands while recuperating from surgery, and we had loads of scrap metal out behind his farm shop. I kept playing around, welding things together. 

I did seem to have a flair for coming up with some cute ideas.  After I made a few pieces for myself, I posted pictures on my personal Facebook page.  I had a lot of positive feedback from friends, although looking back I don't know why.  Those early pieces now make me cringe when I see them.  However, I am eternally grateful for those friends who encouraged me because their words of encouragement sparked something inside of me to keep going. 

I started watching a few YouTube videos on basic welding, and, thankfully, at some point things started to click and the quality of my welds started improving.   

By fall of 2017, several people had started asking me if I was going to sell any of my creations, and that is when I officially launched my Facebook business page.  The internet has its downfalls, no doubt, but it can also be an amazing tool to spread the word.  In no time I had a decent following of people, and I set up at a few craft shows close to home.  Sales far exceeded my expectations, which in turn gave me a burning desire to keep making stuff.  I had returned back to work as a freelance court reporter after the first of several back surgeries, but I spent every free moment in the shop welding and creating. 

 

I started splitting my free time between going junking for "art supplies" and creating pieces.  I enjoy the pursuit of junk every bit as much as the process of creating.  I started accumulating so much junk that my stash was taking up a large portion of my husband's shop, which didn't go over well when he needed to bring in a piece of farm equipment to perform maintenance.  I decided to save every penny from sales to invest in building my own shop.  After a year of saving, I had my own shop built right next to my husband's.  Best. Decision. Ever.  He's happier, and I am over the moon happy having my own shop.

As Business continued to grow, it was getting to the point that I was taking a lot of time off from work to try and keep up with demand.  I began enjoying my real job less and less, because I wanted to spend more time in my shop.  I am 57 years old, and, thankfully, with age comes wisdom. I began to realize that life is too short to not enjoy what you do.  Like, for real.  So I decided to retire early from my career in May of 2020 in order to pursue the art business full time.  With the onset of the Coronavirus in 2020, the timing could not have been better. I no longer had to travel and was able to work from home.  My current commute to work is on foot and takes less than 60 seconds.  Now instead of working in suits and dresses, I work in bib overalls and work boots.  Any guesses which is more satisfying?  I have zero regrets. Don't be afraid to take a leap of faith, my friends.