Using recycled materials and working amid his restored native Illinois prairie, Jim Zimmerman creates powerful moving images in cut steel, copper, and color.
Every piece is cut by hand from sheets of recycled steel, then welded and painted, or treated with a beeswax blackening process. (Click on any image to see a larger version, then use your browser's Back button to return here.)
Jim's
classic pieces are his wolves, often including prairie grasses and the
harvest moon. Some pieces are wall mounted, others have bases made
from heartwood walnut recovered from the old T. A. Foley lumber company
in Paris, IL when it closed after 115 years of operation. Here you
see a symmetric work in front of a palette of rough sawn walnut.
 |
His blue herons, as large as three feet tall, capture the elegant, almost prehistoric form of this beautiful bird, |  |
Jim's versatile style includes an ever changing variety
of trees, animals, and prairie scenes.