From Hobby to a Business

Rustic Crosses is a small garage business that was started in Tucson, Arizona.  Following retirement, my wife and I joined the Golf and Racquet Club at Ventana Canyon.  One afternoon while searching for a golf ball in the desert I literally stumbled on some barbed wire.  Later, when I was perusing the shops in the Artisan Community of Tubac, I noted how different artists used wire in their work.  The thought struck me that the wire I stumbled on might be something to work with and at the same time pass spare time.

It should be noted that The Ventana Canyon Golf Community was built on what was once a ranch, and the barbed wire (as was later discovered) could be found in much of the desert rough on the golf course.  The Flying V was the name of the old ranch and an outstanding dining area is now located at the base of the Canyon Trail and is called The Flying V Restaurant.

When I first worked with the barbed wire, cactus skeletons were used to make simple crosses, then the wire was mounted on the cross.  Later, the wire was mounted on single pieces of cactus.  The following summer, while visiting my son Michael on Madeline Island I picked up pieces of driftwood from Lake Superior and again mounted barbed crosses on the driftwood. (Madeline Island is the only inhabited Island of the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior) 

In Tucson, the following winter, I began making crosses out of wire and barbed wire without the driftwood or cactus background.  Later that winter I was urged to show my work at an art fair, sponsored by Ventana Canyon and was surprised to find that  individuals attending were interested in purchasing my work.  What followed was an open house with two other artists from Tucson.  Next, consignment sales in Tucson, Walker and Pequot Lakes, Minnesota, as well as a shop on Madeline Island.