Bill Powell is an artisan at heart
By Joan Janzen
If you’re headed north on Highway 884 to Veteran, you’ll spot a headless horseman at one of the intersections. The life-sized figure is the workmanship of artisan Bill Powell, whose ranch is located less than a kilometre east of the landmark.’
“I wish I had a guest book beside it because there is someone stopping to take photos on a daily basis,” Bill said. “If you’re coming from the north, you’d swear that horse is going to run out on the road. Truckers slow down because they think it’s a real horse.”
The figure sits inside the fence to Bill’s property, but that doesn’t stop some people from climbing on the horse for a photo opportunity. “It’s made of scrap metal, so there’s more sharp things on there than you can count,” Bill warned.
PHOTOS BY JOAN JANZEN, click for larger images and captions
It took Bill about five years to collect all the scrap iron. He constructed the horse and rider from old pieces of equipment. “There’s universal joints in it, pieces of wrenches and logging chains. I made the horse’s head out of scoop shovels, and the tail is made from teeth from a rake,” he said. “It’s hard to make a face out of scrap iron, so I decided to make it a headless horseman.”
The figurine is not only impressive but is also practical, providing a helpful tool for folks like Bill, who love giving directions using landmarks. “Our place is a half mile east of it,” he advised. You’ll see Bill’s artistry displayed throughout the yard when you get there.
Bill invited me downstairs into his man cave, where his creativity thrives. “I have lots of hobbies; it keeps me out of trouble,” he said.
His hobbies include leather work, painting, making jewelry, stone carving, crafting knives and spears, carving wood and doing taxidermy work on everything from deer to pheasants. Bill used to have an aviary and was licensed to raise pheasants.
He pointed out a painting he used to do demonstrations at schools. It was done in various shades of blue. “You’ll see a lot of blue around here because I’m partially colour-blind,” he confessed.
Bill uses a wet-on-wet technique. “The medium you paint on first is a type of oil that makes the whole canvas wet. When you add another colour to it, you can move it around,” he explained. Using this technique, he is able to complete a painting in an hour.
Although his paintings are done in a short amount of time, some of his other pursuits take much longer. It can take him an entire week to make a hunting knife, which ends up being a showpiece rather than being used for practical purposes.
The material for the knife’s handle comes from South Africa, and the blade is made from stainless steel. “I interchange the two types of steel and heat it in the forge to about 2300 degrees F. Then I press it, hammer it, and the two metals will fuse to one another,” Bill explained. “When it doubles its length after you pound it out, you cut it in half and lap it back over itself. You can do that as many times as you want.”
This process reveals a pattern on the steel. “Once you get over 200 layers, the pattern is so tiny it’s almost indistinguishable,” he said. Bill showed me one of his knives that had 192 layers.
Bill’s sister used to make jewelry and gave him her tools. Now Bill keeps his granddaughter well stocked in earrings. He cuts gemstones into slices to reveal beautiful patterns.
Bill will paint a picture on almost anything, from a buffalo skull to a cream can or saw blade. “I mainly make items for gifts,” he said. His wood carvings make wonderful gifts.
He uses basswood or diamond willow, which is found just northwest of his ranch. Some of his carvings are humorous, depicting a man snatching a pie while his wife chases him with a rolling pin.
“I was about 12 years old when I started painting. I’d work summer jobs to earn enough to buy paint,” he said. Bill’s creativity has been expanding ever since. “Hardly anything stays the same at our place,” he chuckled. Even rocks are transformed into a family of geese in the front yard.
Throughout the years, Bill has taken numerous courses. “I took a course on making knives, on cutting stone, and courses on taxidermy that were sent out in printed form. But reading about it is different than putting it into practice,” he noted.
He has gone to a lot of different shows and talked to other people to learn more about it, but much of his work is self-taught.
Besides raising 200 head of cattle on his ranch, Bill has used his stone-cutting skills to build his own stone fireplace. Last year he made an ice fishing shack out of a fibreglass tank and decorated the interior walls with his trademark paintings.
“I don’t profess to be an artist, but people like my paintings,” Bill modestly commented. “I don’t sell them for profit.”
Bill and his wife love spending time with their kids and grandkids. “And I’ll keep making stuff as long as I can,” he said. It’s obvious that Bill is an artisan at heart. It’s not what he does; it’s who he is.