WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — Thomas Humphries works as a roofer, but in his spare time, he’s an artist.
Some of his works include the palm tree in front of the state fairgrounds and the horse statue in front of their rodeo building, the dancing couple outside Blue Moon Ballroom and the dinosaur behind Terra in West Columbia and the band at the Riverwalk Amphitheater.
Humphries made these, and other sculptures, out of items that would normally end up in a landfill. He says ‘junk’ became his medium in college. He says he was already interested in art, and the only class offered was sculpting.
“I was behind on a piece, I was trying to carve a piece out of plaster of Paris and I was going to get a bad grade because it had taken me too long,” Humphries said. “So I whipped up a guy standing on his hands, and it was out of random pieces I found around the shop. And it seemed to be really exciting for everybody.”
Now, Humphries says the West Columbia community is helping him create his sculptures.
“I'll come home and there'll be stuff in my driveway that somebody brought, I don't even know who did it,” Humphries said. “So I just appreciate, a lot of people really have been helpful and really wanting to give and very, very supportive”.
One member of that community, historian G.L. Locklear, says he’s seen more and more art added to the city in the 50 years he’s lived there.
“I think it’s a great piece of sculpture, out of junk,” Locklear said. “Somebody is quite an artist who did it.”
Humphries is currently working on his first commission, which happens to be for the high school where his passion for art began.
“They've asked me to make a rendition of the Viking, the mascot for Spring Valley,” Humphries said. “So, that’s the first piece I’ve really been asked to do.”
Humphries recently finished the prototype he built to help him construct the twelve-foot Viking. He's hopeful it’ll lead to even more commissions, and perhaps a chance for him to do art full-time.
Humphries says he’s also working on another sculpture that he’s excited to share with the community after he completes the Viking project.