One of a kind

Birdhouses, altars, entertainment centers, large-scale Christmas displays and aliens are just some of the pieces Al Buss has created in his 50-year career.

Now, the 74-year-old Grafton artisan is into what he calls “snorts, scanners and short totems.”

“What I like about what I’m doing now is nobody’s doing it,” Buss said.

“I bet I’ve made 100 of these. No two are the same,” he said of his snorts — multicolored dinosaur-like heads sticking out their tongues.

To shape the heads, Buss lays a plate of clay over a two-liter bottle filled with just the right amount of water. Acrylic paint finishes them off, some including hundreds of spots made with the back end of a paintbrush, toothpicks or matchsticks.

As for his scanners, Buss said, “At art shows people ask me what kind of animals are those,” he laughs. “They’re not human and they’re not animals.”

The scanners have a theme, however. “I love the ’40s genre detective things,” he said.

His totems are created in copper from  a myriad of templates hanging in his home-built studio that he mixes and matches with each piece. The copper, he said, shows off different colors depending on the light.

Buss, a huge Steven Spielberg fan inspired by some of his movie characters, also makes wall hangings of multicolored alien heads with accents of all kinds. He starts with the iconic eyes, shaping them by placing clay in soup ladles with broken handles, then composes the rest of the face and design around them.

Buss knows his art is unconventional.

“It takes a certain individual to want it and buy it,” he said.

It will be for sale at his studio at 1514 N. Green Bay Rd., Grafton during the annual Covered Bridge Art Fair Friday through Sunday, Oct. 13 to 15.

Buss developed an interest in art early. He sold pieces he made at West Bend High School to his friends.

After serving in the army, he got connected with sculptor Paul Yank, who showed him his place in Cedarburg, the former Weber Brewer building. Buss knew it well; he biked there when he was young.

Yank let Buss rent what he called a “cement tomb” in the basement of the building. Buss spent nights there designing and building furniture after his welder job in Richfield.

Sixteen artists worked in the Yank building, and two interior designers helped Buss land a variety of clients, including Milwaukee’s old Goldi shoe store and the Paramount restaurant and bar in Milwaukee.

Buss’ client list also includes the John Hancock Building in Chicago, the Pabst Theater, Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital and Milwaukee City Hall.

His colossal Christmas displays were made on the third floor of the Grafton Arts Mill. He had to break them down to be able to ship them to malls where Santa Claus would have his pictures taken with children.

Buss ran his own design and build business for a couple of years.

“I got good at entertainment centers. There was nothing in stores like it,” he said. “I didn’t get rich at it. But I could afford the house,” he said.

In the late 1990s, Buss inadvertently stumbled onto a new hit. While putzing in his home-built studio, he made a birdhouse for his mother-in-law. She loved it and others followed.

“For a long time, I did nothing but birdhouses,” he said. His total reached around 14,000 in 26 years, including 2,500 sold to Smith and Hawken garden stores.

“I had to hire help,” Buss said, to meet the demand for his birdhouses.

He later turned some of the birdhouses into lamps and made 600 for Shady Lady Lighting in Grafton. The company set up a meeting with Buss to see if it was interested in his work. Upon seeing him at the door holding two birdhouses, he was quickly invited in and a deal was struck.

He gets a kick out of seeing his work in various outlets. “I’m finding my old birdhouses on eBay,” he said.

Buss, the second-oldest of six children, has no formal training. His father worked in maintenance at a factory and started a welding shop in Newburg.

“You’re born with it. You either have it or you don’t,” Buss said.

Like many artists, Buss’ craft provides an escape. He listens to music while his creative juices flow.

“It gives me time to think about things, gets me away from reality,” he said. “Sometimes when you’re working on one piece you’re thinking about the next one.”

For a map of the artists on the Covered Bridge Art Tour and more information, visit www.cedarburgartistsguild.com/coveredbridgeartstudiotour.