The first piece I made was an accident. I had impulsively bought half a bomb on ebay, to use as an umbrella stand in my crowded apartment. When it arrived, it was clearly not right for the job. Filthy, rusted, with a huge hole in the middle that would only concentrate the water on one spot of the floor.
But as useless as it appeared, the shape of it was very appealing. It had a kind of aerodynamic grace, plus an intrinsic menace. I had no idea what to use it for, but I was restoring some other furniture and decided to polish it up at the same time.
Over many hours, the grime flaked off and the steel began to shine through. When I looked at it, I stopped seeing a bomb, and started noticing the shapes and proportions that went into it. And those forms were perfect for a table lamp.
A couple weeks later, I got a stimulus check from the government. Most of my friends wanted to put the money towards the recently-released iPad, or flesh out their wardrobes, but instead I took a chance. I scoured military surplus websites, buying everything with the same raw appeal of that gritty half-bomb. I bought tools, and clamps, and started looking up rust-removal techniques in my spare time. And unlike almost everything else I'd done, the more I worked and learned, the more I wanted to do and know.