“There are no limitations, says LARAC member R. Sanford (Sandy) Stragnell, “except for those we set up for ourselves.” Sandy lives this first hand. From items that most of us would discard, he fashions new life in a manner that borders on inspired.  How else would a pair of scissors evolve into a bird’s head, a lead pommel from a goat’s harness transform into a spiders body, or spent rifle shell casings become people—frolicking, animated, filled with personality people?

Sandy studied art at Oregon State University in the early 1970s and has always been interested in metal. The adaptive property of the medium appeals to him: that such a rigid material, with heat, becomes pliable and capable of taking on any new shape.  Indeed, his mastery of his medium means that he can rework metal into any item he needs, but Sandy instead looks to the metal itself—recycled bits of scrap, parts to a machine no longer recognized or needed, trash to some of us—to tell him what it already is.  A silver teaspoon, with heat applied, becomes a whimsical frog.

Exploring bits of metal around an abandoned saw mill, Sandy found the first part of a bird when he saw in the scrap “the profile of a pelican’s head clearly outlined on the ground.”  Sandy is now in the process of developing an entire exhibition around birds, which will be held at LARAC next summer.  His dinosaur, a favorite when it was on display at a previous exhibition at LARAC back in 1999, started with the concept of its foot, suggested by the foot of a plow blade being discarded by the local highway superintendent.  Occasionally Sandy will reverse his process and will seek out specific pieces of metal to fashion an identified item. He has dissected flowers so he can explore which available metal part best suggests, for example, a daffodil stamen.

Sandy is busy working on new frogs, birds, leaves, flowers and other hot selling items for LARAC’s Holiday Showcase, where he has sold his work for several years.  People who collect his work find the items endearing, whimsical, and filled with personality.  Ilene Hoerning of Queensbury, who owns a three-foot leaping frog made by Sandy says, “I was having my water garden redesigned with a waterfall and I just knew that “Mr. Frog” would be just wonderful.  He’s so big, so gorgeously handsome, I love him.”  Ilene, who first saw Sandy’s work at a Holiday Showcase back in 2001 continued, “Sandy has a great imagination.”

Sandy’s bird series will be shown at LARAC in the summer of 2004.  He is busy these days, but when asked how much time he spends on the pursuit of his art, he was clear and emphatic, “Not enough” he said.  Perhaps time is Sandy’s only limitation.