I attended Montana State University in the early 1980s. By then, I had already successfully completed an apprenticeship as an electrician and was mostly interested in broadening my experiences. One of the people I befriended while in an art class was a Bozeman native and talented artist named Joe Schneider.
Joe especially liked working with tactile materials. For
one of his projects, he carved a small cavity in a stone and then made a
combination lock out of metal to access the chamber inside the stone.
Joe also made Fred.
Fred was constructed from wood, papier-mâché, wax, and
denim as one of Joe’s projects for a class. Remarkably, as I recall, Fred was
created in the course of only three or so days. I was particularly impressed
with Fred and said as much.
“You can have him, Mitch,” Joe told me. “I don’t have
anywhere to keep him.”
“Seriously?”
“Sure, you can take him.”
Fred’s been with me ever since—over 40 years now. He spent
the last 34 of those perched quietly in the rafters of my garage, watching the
seasons pass in sawdust and silence. But recently, I brought him down, dusted
him off, and decided it’s time for him to move again.
Fred’s heading to the cabin. I figure he’s earned a place
up in the loft, watching over things in his quiet yet solid way.
—Mitchell Hegman
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