Twisted Horn Forge

Artist: Tom Williams

I play with fire so hot it can melt metal, electricity with enough voltage to start Frankenstein’s heart, light so bright it can burn your eyes. Sparks fly, motors whine. Bam! Bam! Bam! The hammer falls. Sweat pours off my forehead, hot embers singe my skin, my back aches, and I love it! I may not be a super hero; I am better. I am an ARTIST!
I create recycled and repurposed metal sculptures: bells, wind chimes and meditation drums. My sculptures are of pleasant organic forms captured in metal. The bells are made from used, discarded gas cylinders and create pleasing vibrations. My drums can be played by anyone, and they often are. They are made from repurposed propane tanks, and they sound somewhat like a steel drum with a longer sustain or resonance.
In 2011 I entered the Flagstaff Recycled art show and won the Elegance award. This fueled my creativity. I was planning to enter my work in a gallery in Flagstaff when my wife and another artist suggested to open a gallery here in Williams, AZ. The Gallery in Williams opened in September, 2011. The Gallery has been successful, but my desire to be in additional galleries remained unsatisfied.
I entered the 2012 Recycled Art Exhibition in Flagstaff, and this time my "Shoeguaro" took Best in Show. This honor was just the push I needed to submit my work to two additional galleries. Work it is, HARD WORK, and the most fulfilling, rewarding work of my life!
I employ welding, blacksmithing, bending, twisting, heating, and a lot of cursing in my metal sculpture. I mean, that metal is hot when I pick it up, G*%#@@! , and I never seem to learn.
I just finished a collaborative sculpture with Mike Frankel, and John Rogers, two other best in show winners of the Recycled art show. It’s entitled The Mars Kaleidisphere and is installed at the Lowell Observatory. It’s free. Check it out.