I am Bob Lyall, a metal artist, formally
trained as a journeyman sheet metal worker. I would like to introduce
you to my metal artwork and give you a little background of how
I got to where I am today.
With the skill set of a journeyman sheet
metal worker and the right tools, I am able to create practically
anything. My passion is in the creation of artwork. I have been
doing artwork for most of my life, but I pursued the artwork,
as a full time career, beginning in the middle 1980's when I
had to travel to do sheet metal work. With a young family, the
decision was made to pursue the arts, so I would travel with
my family, rather than away from my family; that is the primary
reason I do Iowa art.
All of my work is created from recycled
metal. This concept of recycled artwork allows my metal artwork
to be much more affordable and the recycled materials have character
that is not available in new metal.
A noteworthy recycled item is the "Capitol
Copper Collection." These are items created from over 100
year old copper that was once part of the roof covering the State
Capitol of Iowa in Des Moines. The opportunity to get large sheets
of copper with such a wonderful coloring, was unresistible. Later
the history of the metal became significant in the marketing
of the artwork. I have pins, barrettes and earrings created from
this material. The State of Iowa, apple and shamrock pins are
all created using a die to cut the metal, therefore each of the
shapes are consistent. The hearts and trees are all free form,
therefore each are unique. The Capitol Copper is truly Iowa art!
My garden art is also very popular items
in my recycled artwork collection. I like to specialize in metal
hearts, metal stars and metal cats. Each piece may be on a long
rod for the garden, or on a short rod (mounted in stone), in
which case the piece becomes an interior item for the table.
For example the metal cat on a long rod would be an outside piece
of garden art, whereas the same metal cat on a short rod mounted
in stone could be either a interior or exterior item.
Here is a series of my garden art pieces
that I created for a local charity. The largest person is over
six foot and the smallest character is three foot tall. I enjoy
sharing my humor with the community.
