My name is Bryan Baer and amongst many things I am a metal sculptor and fabricating super star. I was born in The Dalles, OR, and raised deep in the suburbs of East Gresham. I have lived in the Portland area most of my life and have always done my best to embrace the weirdness of this great city. I have always been a creative person but I'm finding it's lately becoming a passion. I realized at a young age I really liked cool stuff. But I didn't come from a family that handed everything to me. They taught me right. You either earned the money and bought it or you earned some of the money to buy the supplies to make it and then made it better. I almost always went with the latter. I started small as a kid and worked my way up to custom cars and trucks. Through that process I became a self-taught body man, painter, fabricator, and welder.
Fun fact:
I failed metal shop at Gresham High School twice, because I couldn't make a bottle opener that wouldn't rip off the top of the bottle...
I read a lot of how-to-custom magazines and books and just went out there and screwed up a bunch of stuff. But because of those experiences I've never been afraid to take chances and that has helped me significantly as an artist. I went to college for automotive repair and worked as an auto mechanic for years, but switched to heavy equipment mechanic in order to bring more challenges into my work life - it's been my career for 20 years now. Over that time I built a classic customized Datsun 510 show car that won a lot of awards and I'm very proud of. But there was something missing still…
About 10 years ago I was noticing how interesting these parts looked that I was scrapping in the bin. Faces, heads, bodies - I was seeing all kinds of shapes. I was also noticing parts that I didn't see something in right away but knew had a purpose. So I started taking these pieces home and stock piling them in my shop in crates and boxes. After a few years I just started piecing together one or two here and there and really loved it. And after I sold a few pieces it gave me the confidence to realize that this is what I need to do. Aside from my full time job I dedicate about 20-30 a week to my art. I'm trying to make the transition to full-time artist and no time-mechanic. I have recently sold my show car to invest in my future and moved back to Portland after living deep in the woods east of Washougal for 12 years. In an effort to be closer to the action, so to speak, so I can make this dream of being a full time artist a reality. It will happen....
A lot of the parts I use in my art are really expensive to buy, but lots of times they are obsolete and unneeded. But I think of the resources that it took to get the iron from the earth and make the steel. And then pour the steel in a mold, send it to a machinist, send it to a mechanic to install it, use it, and then throw it away. Back to the earth, but in a form the earth can't use. I grab these interesting parts, before they go to waste on a landfill and turn them into beautiful art that will last many lifetimes. I use a lot of rail spike springs, gears, engine, and axle parts, also whatever else I find interesting along the way. It is a lot of fun and a great challenge searching for those special pieces. I then cut, twist, bend, grind, weld, and beat my sculptures to life. I make cute and adorable animals and I also make very scary and dangerous looking mystical creatures. I love doing both, but my favorites are the dangerous ones with knives and saw blades. I am always challenging myself with new animals and I also make some up myself. I really have come to love doing commissioned jobs for people, who would like to immortalize an animal or other pet. I can master these jobs from a photograph or I can capture some of their essence just by spending a little time with them. A lot of positive feelings surface with creations like these. And I get the sense that they bring a lot of happiness to the people that commissioned them.
Fun fact:
I failed metal shop at Gresham High School twice, because I couldn't make a bottle opener that wouldn't rip off the top of the bottle...
I read a lot of how-to-custom magazines and books and just went out there and screwed up a bunch of stuff. But because of those experiences I've never been afraid to take chances and that has helped me significantly as an artist. I went to college for automotive repair and worked as an auto mechanic for years, but switched to heavy equipment mechanic in order to bring more challenges into my work life - it's been my career for 20 years now. Over that time I built a classic customized Datsun 510 show car that won a lot of awards and I'm very proud of. But there was something missing still…
About 10 years ago I was noticing how interesting these parts looked that I was scrapping in the bin. Faces, heads, bodies - I was seeing all kinds of shapes. I was also noticing parts that I didn't see something in right away but knew had a purpose. So I started taking these pieces home and stock piling them in my shop in crates and boxes. After a few years I just started piecing together one or two here and there and really loved it. And after I sold a few pieces it gave me the confidence to realize that this is what I need to do. Aside from my full time job I dedicate about 20-30 a week to my art. I'm trying to make the transition to full-time artist and no time-mechanic. I have recently sold my show car to invest in my future and moved back to Portland after living deep in the woods east of Washougal for 12 years. In an effort to be closer to the action, so to speak, so I can make this dream of being a full time artist a reality. It will happen....
A lot of the parts I use in my art are really expensive to buy, but lots of times they are obsolete and unneeded. But I think of the resources that it took to get the iron from the earth and make the steel. And then pour the steel in a mold, send it to a machinist, send it to a mechanic to install it, use it, and then throw it away. Back to the earth, but in a form the earth can't use. I grab these interesting parts, before they go to waste on a landfill and turn them into beautiful art that will last many lifetimes. I use a lot of rail spike springs, gears, engine, and axle parts, also whatever else I find interesting along the way. It is a lot of fun and a great challenge searching for those special pieces. I then cut, twist, bend, grind, weld, and beat my sculptures to life. I make cute and adorable animals and I also make very scary and dangerous looking mystical creatures. I love doing both, but my favorites are the dangerous ones with knives and saw blades. I am always challenging myself with new animals and I also make some up myself. I really have come to love doing commissioned jobs for people, who would like to immortalize an animal or other pet. I can master these jobs from a photograph or I can capture some of their essence just by spending a little time with them. A lot of positive feelings surface with creations like these. And I get the sense that they bring a lot of happiness to the people that commissioned them.
