Once In Awhile You Get Shown The Light In The Strangest Of Places If You Look At It Right!!!!

This is a picture of a friend Mark and I made at a Greatful Dead show a few years ago...I think it was actually in Columbus on Aug. 9th...the anniversay of Jerry's death....... Anyway, his name is Roger Downs. He is a very cool guy. below is a picture of his artwork that he donated to his hometown and a brief article about him and a link to his my space. thanks for shining your light Roger and making the world a better place!!!!


Roger has been invariably fascinated with all things mechanical from his earliest experiences on his grandfather’s farm, working in his father’s cabinet shop and in the U.S. Army Engineers. He is inspired by his love for classic cars, trucks and motorcycles. He is also a musician. Roger enjoys playing many different styles of music being a skilled drummer and percussionist. As a drummer, Roger has developed not only custom drum stands, but a line of chimes based on found objects.
His love of nature is evident in many of his pieces, but as Roger notes “no sculpture can ever beat natures design”.
An affinity for camping, especially in the Hocking Hills area has allowed Roger to expand his spirituality like “a walk in the woods”.
Roger’s work has been shown in numerous shows and festivals across Ohio where he has won several awards.
Roger currently resides in Greenfield with fellow artist Debbie Powell and numerous pets.
To inquire about or purchase Rogers “Industrial Strength Art” visit (cool song on their by Roger too) :
http://www.myspace.com/industrialstrengthart



Statements

"Don't give up on your dreams." The sculpture in Chillicothe took five years to build. I moved, ask anyone, no easy task, twice! Through life and death and all kinds of changes I kept plugging away. All progress is forward progress. Accept the support of others.

Specialties

Creating functional art from discarded metal.

Inspirations

Alexander Calder is just one of the many artists I find inspiring but I am most inspired by nature. Living in a rural area allows me to be inspired visually by trees, bugs, etc, but I also see the seasons a little more intensely; for example in February we had an ice storm. I was amazed walking through our wooded property covered in 1/2" of ice. As I create things I try to remember shapes of shadows during sunsets, weird branches, etc. Duplicating my memory gives enough freedom to express my imagination.