Tin Man, With Dog. Dog Is Not For Sale

Ed Gulley has always loved the Tin Man, one of the beloved characters from the Wizard Of Oz. His wife Carol, does a great impression of the evil witch, which Ed says he enjoys.

So he worked long and lovingly on his own idea of the Tin Man, which he brought over to the farm today, and which is being offered for sale at the Open House, which begins on Saturday. Ed is asking $750 for the Tin Man, he can live indoors or outdoors, he is hardly and made of 100 per cent pure industrial farm parts.

The Open House is gaining momentum.  A van of residents from the Mansion is coming, so is the RISSE soccer team – a/k/a The Bedlam Farm Warriors, and some of the player will even sing for us.

Ed Gulley came over in the pouring rain to put the Tin Man into the ground.  This is a great creative leap for Ed, his junk/farm/industrial art is deepening, this a big step.

The Tin Man is a labor of love and art by Ed Gulley, he has been working on him in his spare time for weeks, and Ed, a busy dairy farmer, doesn’t get much free time. Every part comes from farm equipment or things that come up out of the earth, or are liberated by tractors. This one show great heart and imagination.

It is authentic farm or junk art, as Maria calls it, about as real as one can get.

Ed is an artist, and his work at the Open Houses have drawn a lot of attention, he is selling a fair number of his sculptures and wind chimes. I will be interested to see if he sells the Tin Man – his other pieces are much less expensive. But he is right to charge $750, Maria and I both encouraged him to do it, if he doesn’t value his own work, no one will.

And if this piece were being sold in New York City, it would be for thousands, not hundreds of dollars. Good for Ed. And how neat for the Open House to have such a creative Tin Man and his dog greeting the visitors next weekend. (The dog is not for sale.)