WINK I'LL DO THE REST

Lee began carving when he was a supervisor of construction projects. He traveled around the country building hospitals, hotels, etc. and on weekends would carve. He carved the different trades; iron workers on red iron, concrete finishers on the base of a piece. He carved a saying usually profane, that a trade said. On a project in Manhattan he took some pieces to the Museum of American Folk Art and it was well received. When a recession hit the construction industry he began carving full time. He has never looked back. Lee carves what he calls "wise old sayings" and at last count had 185 sayings that he carves. During the summer he does art shows in beach towns.

The founder of Heise Metal Sculpture, Bill Heise studied art and art education at Buffalo State College. After moving to rural Vermont and teaching briefly, Bill began sculpting with found metal in 1966, tapping into Vermont's rich farming past and wide array of raw materials.