Who is Mama Crusty?
Almost every sculpture that Tim creates ends up with a personality and a story. Sometimes the story is obvious at first. Other times it grows. With Mama Crusty, she became part of the family at once. Tim wanted to name her the sand crab or desert sand crab. She became Mama Crusty to me, and all of us. She embodies a long hard life and yet is still here bringing joy.
Tim was in Wyoming at a families farm and came across an early 50’s Chevy truck hood and grill. He asked for it and brought it home. He knew immediately that it was to be a crab. He had some ideas on how to put her together. About that time Tim tore the tendon off of his elbow helping a neighbor getting her basement ready to rent. He was out of commission for a while and when he got back to creating, there were other sculptures that needed to be completed. Mama Crusty was put on hold.
One day a friend of a friend called and said the Harley Davidson store in Lindon needed to clean out their basement of brand new Harley Mufflers, did Tim want them? Of course Tim wanted them. That’s like sending a kid to a candy store. Did you know that when a person buys a new Harley Motorcycle that they immediately change the mufflers? The factory mufflers don’t sound good enough. Tim came home with a truck full of mufflers.
Tim realized he now had legs for the crab. A few old water heaters had ended up at our house, perfect underbelly. Now the engineering. How could this piece be put together so it could be taken apart and moved? Mama Crusty totally disassembles and fits in a small pick up bed trailer to be moved.
Mama Crusty is made of 20 Harley mufflers, 2 motorcycle gas tanks, 8 truck automotive springs, water heater tank metal, skid plate from ford truck, dune buggy headlights, a couple rakes, the Chevy hood and grill, and metal. She likes to travel. She spent 2 years in St. George, UT, a month during the Halloween season in Orem, Loveland, CO, for the Loveland Outdoor Sculpture show, Springville, UT, and many different locations in the Salt Lake valley. She has been a part of several art and car shows and been in different galleries. Her favorite place is the front yard of Tim’s house where cars stop all the time to take her picture.