SigMT

32 | SIGNATURE MONTANA Creative Welding classes offered by Great Falls College-MSU caught Turnbow's aention a while aer her father passed away. e basic and advanced classes are taught through the college's Lifelong Learning program by Joel Sims and Ralph Gallo. Turnbow signed up three years ago and continues to take the classes so that she can work on new projects and refine her skills in the college's Trades and Industry building. "I always thought it was something I'd like to do," she says, though "I was a lile nervous to register for that first class." Sims and Gallo teach students how to safely cut, braise, and weld in the introductory class. Turnbow's first piece was tin-can art, followed by a braised sheet metal and barbed-wire rose—the same preliminary projects today's students tackle in the course. She then fabricated a bow and arrow that she later sold. And she was hooked. Today, several of Turnbow's pieces are on exhibit at the Winston Publishing Gallery on Central Avenue in downtown Great Falls. Her work includes immense wall hangings forged from horseshoes, a Man Cave sign, and a tabletop frame fabricated from wrenches. "I sometimes look at pictures, and ideas will come to me," she says. Turnbow uses sheet metal, square tubing, nuts and bolts, and "anything made of steel" in her art. "I also bought a box of horseshoes from North 40" to create several works, she says. "I try to find different metal sources, and I'm always asking friends for things." e hobby allows her to carry on a family tradition. "I lost my dad four years ago, and I would love to know what he thinks," she says. "I think he'd be thrilled." SHOW & TELL Turnbow's love for her new craft is spelled out with horseshoes.

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