Before pivoting toward his passion for creating welded art, Neal worked for 36 years in law enforcement. He spent 10 years as a patrol officer and 26 years working first as a case agent for the IRS and finishing his career as a polygraphist and interrogator for the National Forensic Laboratory.
Neal enjoys the challenge of creating welded art. “Each piece is different,” he says. “The horseshoes can become a horse head, a flower container, or a butterfly. A brake rotor can become a snail. A crow bar can become a goose.”
In addition to satisfying Neal’s need to be creative, his welded art pursuit has also been a rewarding one. He’s donated to the Parkinson Foundation of Northwest Ohio, Acoustics for Autism and Down for the Ride (a benefit organized by the Down Syndrome Association). “I enjoy watching people look at the pieces and begin to recognize the parts incorporated into them. For example, they see a rabbit and realize it’s made from the teeth of a spring-tooth harrow. They see a guitar and recognize the brake rotor, sprockets, chains, bearings and timing gears included in the piece,” Neal says.
