Iron mustang unveiled first for mountain travelers

By Stephen Clearheart Johnson
North Forty News

A wild mustang rears on his haunches, hooves pawing the air as if in defiance of the traffic on the nearby highway. His mane flying, muscles bulging. Ribs tensed and protruding. Flanks hard as steel.

In fact, they are steel, forged, hammered and shaped by the muscled arms of sculptor Dwayne Cranford. Some 800 pounds of steel went into this life-size version of a fighting mustang. It is a monument to Cranford's passion for animals and his treasured childhood growing up with horses near Conifer.

"To capture the beauty of a horse is a challenge," he said. "So many curves." The secret, he revealed, was to use as a model a toy horse of the renowned Breyer brand. Cranford spent three months crafting his "iron mustang" by day, and many nights.

Cranford has been crafting and sculpting items since the age of 8, but this is his largest work.

"I wasn't sure I could do a horse," Cranford confided. "It is a big undertaking to have it come out right."

His wife, Jill, added, "He's pretty much obsessed until he's finished, and it's not done until it is perfect."

Ten years ago Cranford chucked his job as a foreman for a natural gas pipe-laying outfit, and turned to sculpting to satisfy his creative urges. "It was a leap of faith," said Jill Cranford. Now they run a successful business out of their home in a beautiful mountain setting.

In addition to sculptures, Cranford has won fame for his functional art in the form of chairs, tables and dining sets made of stone and steel. His outdoor patio chairs truly rock, with seats of stone mounted on spring steel. Although his web site quips, "My rock chairs have been compared to something found on the set of the Flintstones," his work has been featured in many national magazines.

In late April, the iron mustang will trot off to two art shows in Texas. If not sold there, he will ride the range with the Cranfords to seven shows throughout the West, including the Boulder Creek Festival in May and the prestigious Loveland Sculpture Invitational in August. In the meantime, this iron mustang is on view at Gate 7 in Glacier View Meadows, off County Road 74E, the Red Feather Lakes Road.

All his creations can be seen on the web site www.stone2furniture.com.

Cranford expects the steel to rust to a natural hue of brown. The mane and tail of the mustang, made of 200 feet of galvanized cable, will remain shiny. He hopes to soon start on another large sculpture, either an Arabian horse or a Texas longhorn steer. His eyes take a far-away look when hinting that he may use stainless steel inlaid with copper or brass.