A couple miles past Hartman Creek State Park on State Highway 54, a bull moose stands his ground while big whitetail bucks lock antlers in a fight. This is in Paul Tornow’s front yard. People often stop and gawk at his sculpted creations made of scrap metal.

His art is an expression of the life he lived: welding on Alaskan oil rigs, guiding moose and bear hunts, working on charter fishing boats, and studying and crafting fine art in between his outdoor adventures.

Tornow grew up in Boulder Junction. After high school he worked at a golf course, bussed at a bar and did maintenance work at a lodge and a golf course.

He saved up some money, bought a vehicle and drove to Alaska to be a hunting and fishing guide.

Tornow moved to Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula where he sold cars for his first Alaskan winter.

At that time Tornow met his “Alaskan parents” and they helped him land an interview with a charter company that ran saltwater trips in 30-foot boats.

He was hired and started logging hours to become a U.S. Coast Guard captain licensed for inland waters. They caught halibut, salmon, ling cod and rockfish.

From there he began guiding bear hunting trips out of Homer. Anchored offshore on a 60-foot boat, he took hunters into low-tide bays in a Zodiac where black bears fed on tidal grass flats.

“After I got my captain’s license, I saved up some money and wanted to take some art classes. My grandpa was an artist and I was always interested in art,” said Tornow.

He enrolled at the University of Alaska-Anchorage and took classes at the Kenai Peninsula campus.

Tornow was certified through the Kenai River Guide Academy and began guiding fishing trips for trout and salmon. “I wanted to go up there and do that because that seemed like as a kid growing up, that was the mecca of fly fishing. Trout, char, salmon, grayling, all that,” said Tornow.

For protection against brown bears, he kept a 12-gauge shotgun at hand and carried a .44 magnum revolver.

“You wore that and it was kind of your outfit. And your waders. Everyday. Rain or shine. Rain, rain, rain. It would be pouring on you. You would be changing out waders three times a day trying to get them dry,” said Tornow.

He later guided archers and riflemen for brown bear and moose.

Meanwhile, he continued to take heavy credit loads of art classes during the off season while living with his adopted Alaskan family.

He first earned an associate’s degree and his professors encouraged him to apply for scholarships and go for a fine art degree. He was accepted into the bachelor of fine art program and finished off his last year in Anchorage.

His first art exhibit was about the evolution and maturation of an angler.

Tornow’s interest in sculpture led to a welding class. His instructor realized Tornow was a student going down a different path.

The other students were there to become certified welders to get jobs in the oil fields and make it a career. For Tournow, he exposed him to welding all kinds of metals, tools and techniques that would serve his art.

The instructor also suggested that since he was in class, why not become a certified welder just to have that expertise in his back pocket.

He started with small sculptures of moose. Out of welded scrap metal, he recreated the Venus de Milo and Michelangelo’s David.

Tornow submitted work to shows and everything he sent was accepted. He won some awards and had early success but he soon hit a wall. He sold some pieces and sought how to define his career as an artist.

He went back to guiding fishing trips and experimented with selling large and small prints at various venues.

Everything sold out but to keep a steady income, he used his welding certification to work on oil rigs.

“You’re remote. Out in the middle of nowhere. There is an airstrip where you fly in or there is a helicopter platform. You did anything and everything to keep that thing producing,” said Tornow. He kept guiding trips and working on his art during his free time.

He submitted a proposal to the university to create couple statues of two bull moose squared off titled, “Strength in the Face of Adversity.”

The two moose still stand on the Kenai Peninsula College’s Kenai River Campus. They weigh several tons, are 25 feet long, 18 feet tall and 12 feet wide at the racks. It took Tornow 11 years of on-and-off work to complete them.

In 2017, he moved back to Wisconsin with his family. He was married with his first son. Another was soon on the way. He and his wife had family scattered around Wisconsin so they decided to position their home in the middle of the state. They picked Waupaca.

Tornow leveraged his welding and oil rig experience to get into the plumbing industry. He is currently a manager at Chet’s Plumbing and Heating.

He never let up with his artwork during this transition. He set up his garage as a studio workshop loaded with welders, cutters and other tools. A side room in his home has multiple easels for his painting.

He doesn’t have a website. He eventually plans to open an art business but he’s adamant about creating his artwork at his own pace with his own vision and on his own terms, while balancing it with his full-time job and fatherhood.

“I’d like it to be old fashioned. Maybe a drop box. Put in an inquiry and I’ll back to you as I can. Maybe put a little sign out there with something painted up. I really want to do is what I want to do and if people are interested in what I produce, I will make that available for them,” said Tornow.

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