Raymon Taylor has made over 15,000 sculptures.
By:Susan Van Dongen
BORDENTOWN On the basement walls of a colonial house in Bordentown, you can still see scorch marks from a fiery British raid that took place during the Revolutionary War.
Now a different kind of flame blazes from the hands of the current resident scrap-metal sculptor Raymon Taylor. His face hidden behind a welder’s mask, sparks radiate from the steel he’s trying to shape.
This particular piece is a trumpet player who has "blown his brains out," Mr. Taylor says.
Removing the mask, he points to the red-hot strands of security wire emanating from the musician’s "head." He’s crafted them to resemble something between a spontaneous explosion and a very bad hair day.
"I tried to play the trumpet once and that’s how I felt," says Mr. Taylor, 59. There’s a lot of humor in his work, but it’s not to be taken lightly.
Since he began handling scrap metal 40 years ago, Mr. Taylor has made more than 15,000 sculptures. Together with his brother, son and nephew, the Taylor family has crafted twice that amount. Working mostly from their family studio in Alstead, N.H., the men have done countless garden and indoor pieces, but are best known for their 20-foot dragons, giraffes and other creatures that rest along New England roads.
In Bordentown, people are starting to notice the odd metal works in Mr. Taylor’s yard off Farnsworth Avenue. People who know he does this kind of work drive up to his garage to inquire if he wants their old stuff, especially pieces of discarded metal.
A close look at one of his works reveals the amalgam of unrelated flotsam and jetsam he can bring together into a work of art. A sculpture of an elephant spraying itself with water consists of a brake shoe, hinges, a rasp, a set of pruners, a train ticket punch, a rock splitter, a hacksaw, dog chains, an antique tulip planter and more. The final product is painted gray, with the trunk up and the forks conjuring the image of water.
There’s also a penguin smoking a cigarette, a chicken with punk-style piercings, a pelican gobbling a fish, hermit crabs, turtles and gargoyles.
"I’m just putting it all together and having it come out as something," he says. "I can do more formal works, but I’d rather have a good time."
Although his professional work is a world away purchasing land for an Edison-based developer Mr. Taylor has always had a penchant for the arts.
"I used to drill and glue driftwood together when I was a kid," he says. "I was always seeing things in other things. My mother was an artist, and my great-uncle Edward Pierce was a significant painter in the Manasquan area."
Mr. Taylor’s art career began in 1962, when he discovered Herb Arnold’s sculpture in a New York gallery. He found he was able to produce similar works, just by experimentation. He consulted with Mr. Arnold for about three years, mastering the basics and developing his own free-flowing style.
He and his family have received numerous awards. Their sculptures are in private collections throughout the U.S. and Europe. In 1999, Mr. Taylor and his family spent two weeks in Washington, D.C., sculpting at the Smithsonian’s Annual Folk Festival, and came away with top honors.
Ten years ago, the Taylors launched an apprenticeship program at their studio in New Hampshire, where they work on their larger pieces. Since his brother owns a scrap-metal company, it’s a perfect way to recycle.
He’s had less attention in his home state than in New Hampshire, but doesn’t seem to miss the gallery openings and cocktail parties reserved for more famous artists.
"I’m doing something else right now," he says. "I’m just having a real good time. I love children and I love teaching people how to do this. I’m not sure you have to have your works in a gallery or sculpture garden to be successful.
"I sit out here and watch people walk by and smile when they see my work. That’s worth more than anything."
For information on Raymon Taylor’s metal sculptures, call (609) 324-4433. For the Taylor Studios in Alstead, New Hampshire, call (603) 835-2569.