The mesquite tree’s taproot has been recorded at a depth of up to 190 feet. This is why it is so hardy and drought-resistant, and one man who works with it shows the same fortitude. Sixty-nine year-old Sleepy Gomez of Rising Star, Texas, finds mesquite wood on his and his neighbors’ property and creates unique wood sculptures out of it.
Sleepy Gomez’ journey to woodworking has been a long and twisted one. He is from Ennis, Texas, and went to the University of North Texas at Denton. It was there that he took a woodworking and basic welding class and soon began his career as a welder and machinist. He designed and built printing presses and worked with a custom architectural metal design firm. However, he has also been a racecar mechanic and driver (which is when he changed his name from Mike Atwood to Sleepy Gomez), been a writer and technical adviser for a car-racing magazine, and owned a grocery store and waste removal company. Besides creating mesquite wood sculptures, he also currently builds model airplanes, writes children’s stories, and just finished a one-act play.
But it is his woodwork that takes a great deal of his time. Sleepy walks out on his and his neighbors’ property to find mesquite wood that inspires him. His neighbors don’t mind the intrusion because they appreciate his sculptures. He says he may look at over two hundred trees before he finds the right one. When he does, he cuts down the piece he wants with a chainsaw, trims it and smoothes it with an electric sander, and uses fine sandpaper and a file on it after it has taken its final form. The final touch is to put several layers of polyurethane on it.
He has created a great number of different subjects. He says he never really knows what the final shape will be until it is done. They are usually abstract figures of dancers, worshippers with raised arms, or animals. He has already done one mythical animal, a chupacabra, and is currently working on what will probably be a seven foot tall Sasquatch. To see his creations, you have to go to his workshop, but he is working on getting a website up soon.
Gomez approaches woodworking as a sculptor and uses mesquite as his material. Like mesquite, the sculptor is tough and has withstood the test of time.
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