Treasure Trophies

I’m a big fan of junkyards. I’ll go and poke around for hours looking for stuff. Chunks of metal. Rusted grates. Pipes. Anything that inspires me. Something about old metal lying around gets the creative juices flowing. And you know what they say about one man’s junk…

Well, a few weeks ago I was on such a mission, just driving around looking for scrap to make something cool, and I came across some stainless steel pipes at a favorite junkyard. The idea bulb went on, so I loaded them into the back of my truck, paid the man, and brought them back to the Putter Studio.

I had an idea to make some interesting trophies for events like the Butler’s convention in Ohio, the Museum & Gallery golf tournament at Hamamatsu Seaside Golf Club this week, and a few other events coming up. These pipes were the raw materials I needed to make my dream trophies.

Have you ever noticed how most golf trophies have a little plastic statuette of a golfer finishing his swing? The club eventually gets broken or horribly bent, ruining the look of the trophy. Or, they are these gigantic crystal vases that you’re afraid to hold for fear of breaking them. At least that’s what I usually see when golf trophies are awarded, so I thought there must be a better way.

Something about the pipes I bought inspired me to slice off rings and weld the pieces to make abstract, artistic trophies that were substantial, had some weight to them, and would last through time. And, of course, they had to look good. I high-buffed them and hand-stamped the plaques, and will continue experimenting when I get back from Japan. I’m pretty excited about these metal trophies, and I plan to make more. Hope you like them. Thanks for checking in on the Blog.

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11 comments June 27th, 2007