Calvin Walton has done many things throughout his life. He's worked at a nuclear power plant and as an art director at an advertising agency. But, of the thing he's done, none gives him more pleasure than creating art from other people's discards. "I'm just not sure what I am," Calvin laughs. "I call myself a sculptor, but a professor who has seen my work calls me an 'outside artist'. My wife calls me a recycling artist." Whatever title Calvin decides on, his work speaks volumes about his imagination and creativity. Calvin's whimsical creations capture the spirit as well as the appearance of his subjects. "I study animals," Calvin says. "I look at their body structure, how they stand and walk. Getting that right makes a big difference in how successful my sculpture will be." Calvin has made his task even more of a challenge by creating his sculptures using a handyman's toolbox of materials (figure A). "About 60 percent of my materials are recyclable," Calvin explains, "and 40 percent comes from home centers." His tools include glue and caulking guns, hammers and saws of all kind and a crowbar. His materials consist of recycled wood, insulating foam, barbed wire, rope, marbles and anything he spots along the side of the road that may now, or in the future, become part of one of his projects. Calvin is constantly on the prowl for materials that will spark an idea or solve a problem. "You need to be aware of things around you," Calvin explains, "and always open to new ideas. It really is seeing something along the side of the road -- like a pile of wood or twigs that gives you an idea. That's also why you'll often find me roaming around home centers looking for new products I can use. For example, someone once asked me if I had ever made a moose (figure B). I hadn't, but I wanted to take on the challenge. I just didn't know how to make the antlers. So, I was down in South Florida on the beach, and I saw a bunch of coconut leaves. Right away I knew I had found my moose antlers." Calvin's most popular sculptures are cows (figure C). "Oh, cows!" he laughs, "Somebody will yell, and everybody comes running! People collect them. I get a lot of orders from Vermont." Calvin says that what he's doing now gives him a great sense of accomplishment that no other work ever offered. "I guess I'm the embodiment of the do-it-yourself movement," he says with a smile of contentment.
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