Thursday,  May 24, 2012 • Vol. 12--No. 315 • 24 of 35 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 23)

• The prospect of people handing over cash to see his art intrigued Porter more than sheep, so his brother helped him purchase some rolling prairie hills along an interstate exit in Montrose, S.D. He packed up his creations and opened Porter Sculpture Park in 2000.
• Winters are spent back home in St. Lawrence crafting in the blacksmith shop, but Porter's summer home is an on-site camper shared by his trusty Australian shepherd, Bambino.
• Porter offers guided tours whenever possible,

providing insight into his inspirations while straying off on tangents ranging from his love of unsweetened iced tea and chocolate to the dangers of zombie attacks.
• A mowed path lets visitors meander through the many goldfish, dragons, flowers and birds constructed of such junk metal pieces as old farm equipment, a cement mixer and hot water tanks.
• A bright blue butterfly flaps its wings atop the pointed finger of a giant yellow hand. Goldfish pour from a two-story-high broken fish bowl as a fly armed with a flyswatter turns the tables on his pests. A spiked club wielding Jack pops out of Pandora's box, and skeletal fish holding skeletal umbrellas await a rain that never comes.
• "I want to pipe in water someday," Porter said, noting that the sculpture is created with actual pipe.
• A 20-foot-tall upside-down yellow and pink hammer sits behind a pair of red monks that "people mistakenly think are grim reapers." He originally wanted nine monks, and he hopes one day to add a musical element.

(Continued on page 25)

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