Aug. 24, 2006, 12:39AM
WELDING & MELDING
Metal sculptor turns criminals' pieces into piece of Texan art
From evidence to high-caliber museum exhibit


By RUTH RENDON
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

LEAGUE CITY � It was high noon Wednesday at the League City Police Department when cowboy-boot-wearing Terry Jones went to battle against a .357-caliber revolver.

Jones won with his weapon of choice: a stick welder.

The metal sculptor from Jewett used the welder to melt parts of the shiny Smith & Wesson weapon and more than 100 others confiscated by the League City Police Department. Jones agreed to make the revolvers, pistols, shotguns and assault rifles inoperable by welding parts of each weapon together.

In return, Jones will use the destroyed weapons for a longhorn sculpture he is creating for the city's Butler Longhorn Museum, which honors the bovine bloodline originated in League City.

The museum still is in its infancy, but Jones' unusual style of artwork caught the attention of curator Jennifer Wycoff-van der Wal. She got the wheels of the project rolling and contacted Jones, and the police department agreed to let Jones destroy and then use the weapons.

"These are of no existing use for us," police spokesman Sgt. Dan Krieger said as he looked over the weapons in an evidence room at the police department. "A judge has issued an order that they be destroyed."

If not for Jones, the department would take the weapons to the city's vehicle maintenance department and have someone weld the weapons and then cut them in half, Krieger said.

As he surveyed the collection, Jones said, "I like the big stainless steel pistols for my artwork. They are nice and shiny."

Jones helped take the weapons outside to his waiting portable welding machine on the back of his pickup. The smaller weapons were held in storage bins and the rifles tossed into a trash can. Olga Midyett, the department's evidence manager, said the weapons had been collected by the department since 2001.

One by one, Midyett handed Jones the guns. He then took the welding stick to each, and within a minute each weapon was unusable.

Most of the firearms were collected during routine traffic stops or confiscated from felons, Krieger said. The only weapon of note was a Taurus semiautomatic pistol used in an armed robbery at a Sonic Drive-In in June 2001. The suspect in the case, Terry Lionell Graham, 27, was convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to five years in prison.

Jones, who grew up in South Houston, said he has also transformed weapons confiscated by the Leon County Sheriff's Office into a sculpture.

Aside from the favorite shiny weapons, Jones said he likes to use the double-barreled shotguns to form the nose of the longhorn. Handcuffs are usually used above the eyes. Jones incorporates all kinds of metals and artifacts into his sculptures. His creations are valued from $40 to $30,000.

Jones is not sure how large the longhorn he is creating will be. Aside from the weapons collected Wednesday, he will use spurs and other knickknacks from the antiques store he and his wife, Carla, own. The project probably will take him a few months.

The city bought the former home of banker Walter Hall and his wife, Helen, to turn it into a museum. The 10-acre complex on the banks of Clear Creek is being turned into a museum that will commemorate rancher Milby Butler, who began breeding the animal known for its long twisted horns and red-and-white speckled coloring.