Born in 1975 in Enterprise, Alabama, Chris Beck is a nuts and bolts kind of guy. Literally.

"I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life, until I discovered working with metal" Chris Beck explains. And with such sincerity, it makes perfect sense.

"I scavenge for the material... roofing from old barns and chicken coops...mostly from farms that were built in the 1920s, but I have some tin from as early as 1880s. Anyway, I drive around, stop on the side of the road, knock on farmhouse doors. Finding this stuff can be as much fun as what I do with it."

His studio or "shop" is a 10' x 12' lawnmower shed in the backyard of his small house, which surrounded by sheets and strips of metal in myriad lengths and varying degrees of rust - an organic quality defined by the age of the tin.

Entering the shed itself is like going down a mechanic's rabbit hole. Everything in sight is connected with metal: tools of every description -- clamps, grinder, hammer, mallet, welder, paint, welding rods, radio, workbench and pliers. All the fabricating is done by hand with the use of a rubber mallet, pliers, and a 3' x 5' concrete slab (which was the ramp for the riding mower at one time).

Other raw material is scattered in organized chaos throughout the yard in separate piles: wheels, flat steel, round tubing, square tubing, car parts, brackets, hinges, lighting, chain, fencing, etc... seemingly just piles. But each pile has its own specific purpose. Just as Chris Beck has found his purpose -- working with metal.