Rising of the Phoenix
It’s said, ‘beauty is in the eye of beholder’.
I spotted this rusted and dilapidated piece of metal in a junkyard in rural Westbourne, Manitoba. I had heard about a remote military surplus store and an interesting character named Al and decided to drive down early spring of 2012. After 3 hours of drive across vast prairies I met Al at his store. Although nothing got my attention in his store, I wandered in his junkyard across acres of land to discover this hidden jewel.
I brought it home and began a long process of discovery, unraveling and restoring this piece of metal that happens to be a vintage pilots seat. I’m still not sure which aircraft this came from but I gave it all my love, imagination and sweat.
It took 3 hours to take just the rusted nuts, screws and pieces apart.
After thorough clean up and dis-assembly I began to visualize and sketch how I want this seat finished. I redesigned the frame and upholstered the seat in bright yellow complementing the military green of the chair.
After much sketching and designing I decided to rest the frame on skis replicating ski undercarriage of a vintage plane.
It took more than hundred hours to finish this project but the result was well worth it.
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