A Shot At Art !
THE DAILY NEWS : SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2006 : GALVISTON
COUNTY TEXAS
Artist Terry Jones uses confiscated
weapons in his sculptures
By RICHARD KOTRLA Correspondent
LEAGUE CITY - One man's junk is Terry Jones' treasure. Everything from hood ornaments
firearms confiscated by police end up in this Central Texans art.
"My sculptures are only as good as the junk I put in them," said Jones.
Weapons confiscated and recently destroyed by the League City Police Department will be used in a longhorn head sculpture that will be on display at the Butler Longhorn Museum in League City.
More than 100 weapons confiscated in traffic stops or used in crimes will be part of the sculpture.
"This will be one of two pieces that I have sculpted from confiscated weapons," Jones said. "The first was for the sheriff's department in Leon County."
Jones, who owns an antique store in Jewett, has a longhorn head he sculpted earlier on display at the Butler Longhorn Museum. This piece is on loan until he completes the one using weapons confiscated in League City.
"In the addition to the weapons, I am hoping local residents will donate metal pieces that are significant to them and perhaps the area that I can include in this longhorn sculpture," he said. "They can contact the museum if they have something they want to be a part of the sculpture."
Jones' foray into metal sculpting grew out of the antique store.
"There are a lot of antiques that never sell, and they end up on the scrap pile," he said. "And somewhere along the way, I acquired a welding machine.
"So one afternoon, I started welding together some of the discarded antiques into different shapes. And then I put some of them on display in my antique store, and they started selling."
Inspired by the interest in his art, he began to weld more things together.
Most of his works are of animals and fish, although he has sculpted scrap metal into other interesting shapes.
"I like sculpting animals, particularly things like longhorns, horses and pigs," he said. "And I have really started liking to sculpt fish of various sizes, with my largest being 3 feet."
Recently, he sculpted a dog for a customer.
"She brought the dog over, and I took exact measurements," said Jones. "I just recently finished the piece, and I am proud to say it looks likes her dog, down to being the exact same size."
Jones says customers will bring in metal items that are significant to them and ask him to turn them into sculptures.
"I have taken surgical instruments and other metal related to the medical field and have turned them into sculptures.
Some of the confiscated weapons Terry Jones uses in his art.
"And I have taken a lot of old farm implements and welded them into sculptures for present and former farming families."
Some of the more unusual sculptures contain family heirlooms, such as jewelry. Jones often turns those into paperweights.
"I think that's pretty neat, because they can display them and not worry about them being stolen," he said. "The paperweights are too heavy and big for someone to stick in their pocket or purse."
"If you really look at one of my sculptures, you see lots of strange and unusual things mounted inside them," he said. "I like to have fun with my art and so I like to incorporate some surprises into a piece."
How does he decide what to weld?
"Ideas just pop into my head, and then I start looking for the right junk to weld," Jones said. "Some of the ideas I have are not yet sculpture, but will be.
"One thing I want to weld is a life-size longhorn steer, but I just haven't had the time."
Artist Terry Jones uses confiscated
weapons in his sculptures
By RICHARD KOTRLA Correspondent
LEAGUE CITY - One man's junk is Terry Jones' treasure. Everything from hood ornaments
firearms confiscated by police end up in this Central Texans art.
"My sculptures are only as good as the junk I put in them," said Jones.
Weapons confiscated and recently destroyed by the League City Police Department will be used in a longhorn head sculpture that will be on display at the Butler Longhorn Museum in League City.
More than 100 weapons confiscated in traffic stops or used in crimes will be part of the sculpture.
"This will be one of two pieces that I have sculpted from confiscated weapons," Jones said. "The first was for the sheriff's department in Leon County."
Jones, who owns an antique store in Jewett, has a longhorn head he sculpted earlier on display at the Butler Longhorn Museum. This piece is on loan until he completes the one using weapons confiscated in League City.
"In the addition to the weapons, I am hoping local residents will donate metal pieces that are significant to them and perhaps the area that I can include in this longhorn sculpture," he said. "They can contact the museum if they have something they want to be a part of the sculpture."
Jones' foray into metal sculpting grew out of the antique store.
"There are a lot of antiques that never sell, and they end up on the scrap pile," he said. "And somewhere along the way, I acquired a welding machine.
"So one afternoon, I started welding together some of the discarded antiques into different shapes. And then I put some of them on display in my antique store, and they started selling."
Inspired by the interest in his art, he began to weld more things together.
Most of his works are of animals and fish, although he has sculpted scrap metal into other interesting shapes.
"I like sculpting animals, particularly things like longhorns, horses and pigs," he said. "And I have really started liking to sculpt fish of various sizes, with my largest being 3 feet."
Recently, he sculpted a dog for a customer.
"She brought the dog over, and I took exact measurements," said Jones. "I just recently finished the piece, and I am proud to say it looks likes her dog, down to being the exact same size."
Jones says customers will bring in metal items that are significant to them and ask him to turn them into sculptures.
"I have taken surgical instruments and other metal related to the medical field and have turned them into sculptures.
Some of the confiscated weapons Terry Jones uses in his art.
"And I have taken a lot of old farm implements and welded them into sculptures for present and former farming families."
Some of the more unusual sculptures contain family heirlooms, such as jewelry. Jones often turns those into paperweights.
"I think that's pretty neat, because they can display them and not worry about them being stolen," he said. "The paperweights are too heavy and big for someone to stick in their pocket or purse."
"If you really look at one of my sculptures, you see lots of strange and unusual things mounted inside them," he said. "I like to have fun with my art and so I like to incorporate some surprises into a piece."
How does he decide what to weld?
"Ideas just pop into my head, and then I start looking for the right junk to weld," Jones said. "Some of the ideas I have are not yet sculpture, but will be.
"One thing I want to weld is a life-size longhorn steer, but I just haven't had the time."
