1999 - Volume #23, Issue #3, Page #24
[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue | Print this story
| Read this issue]
Farmer-Artist Turns Junk Into Money
The Colfax, Ill., couple, who farmed until 1983, started turning old scrap iron into animal sculptures in the early 1970's. They now go to shows all over the U.S. where their sculptures sell for as much $10,000.
The sculptures come in all shapes and sizes. Some of the smallest are the baby chicks he makes, while the largest are probably the 17-ft. tall giraffes. The average price is $200 to $350. Cumpston makes cows, sows, herons, horses, hippos, ducks, geese, bunnies and even armadillo's.
Some other animals are made on a custom basis. For example, last year he made a flying pig for a woman in Virginia. "She married a man that said he would marry again only when pigs fly," Cumpston says. So she ordered the pig for the wedding and her husband loved it, he says.
The sculpting business has become full-time for the Cumpstons, with Robert creating the art and his wife, Donna, managing the business.
Most of Cumpston's art is created from old 2 and 4-row planters and cultivators. "I prefer old metal because it's already weathered and, therefore, ideal for outdoor art," he says.
He depends on a couple of people who gather scrap to get him the parts he needs.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert and Donna Cumpston, R.R. 2, Colfax, Ill. 61728 (ph 309 723-4051).
Click here to download page story appeared in.
Click here to read entire issue
To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.