In 1987, at a July 4th picnic at Lake Lanier, Danny Hoskinson a.k.a "The Bucket Man," a former interior/exterior house painter, first found his talent while melting plastic knives, forks and spoons with a butane lighter. Friends were amazed as he formed the melted plastic into various shapes and sculptures. Within five years, he had graduated from plastic utensils to plastic buckets. Over the years, these large white five gallon utility buckets, most donated by local restaurants and businesses, have been recycled in the most creative and unusual way. They are transformed into some of the most mystical and intriguing works of art imaginable. Totem poles, birds, horses, aliens, figures, alligators, snakes, lampshades, dumb bells, canoes, even furniture. His "art van" is also coated in his melted bucket artworks.
Many of his creations take between twenty and fifty melted buckets to complete. Hoskinson said he still prefers to do faces and likes to capture the character of a face in his work. "I can't stop doing faces, I'd like to take it to its limits," he said, as he pointed to a caricature he did of an Elvis impersonator as an example.
Originally from Knoxville, Danny came home to Tennessee after being raised by his father in California. Having what he calls a "free spirit" he chose to live his life in virtual solitude on a few acres in the country, where he could live as he pleased and do his own thing. On his three-acre property, he originally built his house over a camper trailer using scrap wood. He then removed the camper and added a tin roof. His home is extremely rustic yet surprisingly cozy and is filled with art, not only his own but that of many well-known artists he has traded his work with.
During his house painting years he was known locally as the "barefoot painter" as he preferred to work barefoot. Not any more though, "Now I wear open sandals because I was sick of stubbing my toe," he said. Health problems forced him to give up his painting job but he makes a little money from the many awards he wins for his art.
Hoskinson, who simply signs his work "Hoss" says, "While working, I like to think that I am teaching the plastic to be art and the plastic is teaching me to be the artist." He also added, "This is all part of a complete recycling process, one day I hope to find a good use for all discarded plastic . . . something that we can all use . . . maybe something like bricks for construction."
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