Spirits of Iron

The Welded Work of Dan Klennert

While traveling south From Seattle through the town of Puyallup, we chanced upon an unusual horse built from horseshoes and recycled iron.  The piece was wonderfully crafted with loving attention to detail. 

 

Further on, a few miles from the south entrance of Mt. Rainier National Park, we were surprised and delighted to discover more than a dozen pieces by the same artist on display in a manicured clearing in front of a large corrugated tin barn.  The barn turned out to be the studio of sculptor Dan Klennert.

Klennert's animal images are powerful and confident in form.  Horseshoes are a common element of his work.  Obviously appropriate for creating horses, Dan also uses them for scales on fish, and in this case to represent the difinitive "blanket" on the rump of an Appaloosa. 

Well....maybe if I used training wheels....

Dan selects his found objects carefully, with a great deal of thought.  The viewer first sees the overall form of the piece, the "spirit" of the work, then slowly becomes aware of the found objects used to create it, and the clever ways they are used. 

Dan's horses include internal organs.  In this detail of "Blood", you can make out the growing fetus in the belly of the mare.

Visit Dan's Web Site