Bill Vernon: About The Artist

MAY 29, 1998
A Hot Sticky Friday Evening

We're Back In Business

The 230-foot long, two-story warehouse that produced the Shade Tree Cowboys had been empty since 4:00PM. Bill Vernon, artist & C.E.O., was at home with his family when at 7:30 PM, the phone rang. A neighbor called in a panic to inform the Vernons that their business was on fire. By the time they finished the 6-mile drive, the entire building was engulfed in flames. Several 55-gallon drums of resin and various other materials used in production were exploding and being launched hundreds of feet in the air. The thick, black smoke could be seen over 30 miles away. Horrified, the Vernons' watched helplessly as their 25-year-old company was completely destroyed - molds and all.

The event turned out to be the largest fire in the history of Franklin, NC. Fifteen local fire departments applied over 60,000 gallons of water to the blaze, which burned for nearly three days. Seventeen fire investigators came to the final conclusion that the blaze was electrical in nature and originated in the employee common area. Fire Marshal, Don Willis told the Vernons that no foul play was suspected. The fire burned at temperatures in excess of 1,800 F. To give you some idea, a "hot" fire in a fireplace burns at 500 - 900 F degrees.

Much has been accomplished over the last two years. We rebuilt our factory, but on a much smaller scale, as part of our commitment to limit production.

Only 8 styles that were active at the time of the fire have been brought back. Each of them has been modified and is now in special "Second Edition" production status

Sculptures go into second edition status anytime there is a change made to the original. Each will be limited to 3500 pieces.

Right now all styles on this web site are available for shipment. However, please remember to order quickly as production is very limited.

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Artist's Profile

Bill Vernon

Bill Vernon has been around the gift industry for well over twenty years. During those past two decades, his ideas, his designs and the products of his companies, have touched the lives of literally mil- lions of people all across America and around the world.

A self described "hermit," Bill lives a quiet country life with his wife and two sons. It is a rare occasion that you will find him at a gift show or gift shop promoting his product lines. In fact, he has always stayed in the background, simply the man behind the ideas.

His career began back in the early 1970's. The "craze" at the time was mushrooms. Everyone and everything had mushrooms. He began using actual mushroom coral from the Philippines and driftwood he gathered from the Florida Keys to design individual works of art that resembled clusters of mushrooms. He began traveling the art show circuit selling his mushrooms where he received many awards for the uniqueness of his designs. Soon, he gave up traveling and began to wholesale his products to gift shops around the country.

As time went by, he began to sculpt unusual figurines out of pottery clay. In the "old days," as Bill puts it, there was no cost effective method of reproducing his clay designs for the wholesale markets. Finally, in the late 1970's Bill stumbled onto a rather newly devised molding technique. He was one of the first in the industry to utilize it.

Bill began to experiment and became a self taught mold maker, sculptor, airbrush artist and even an accomplished poet. Soon he developed casting and finishing systems that are totally unique to his company. Some of the largest and most successful manufacturers in the gift industry have consulted with Bill on various casting techniques and ideas.

His company grew to a point that he had as many as 300 people on payroll. Consumed with the daily rigors of running a company of this size, Bill had to put his own artwork on the "back burner." Instead, he would hire artists to implement his ideas. These associate artists would design various products under his direction.

Finally, in 1991, Bill decided that the one thing missing in his life was his art and love of sculpting. His business had proven very successful, but the time had come to return to the sculpting table and do what he loved best - sculpt and create. His humorous and unique "Cowboys" line was where he began to concentrate his creative efforts.

In 1994 he took the next step in doing what he loved. The "Series of Evolution" was borm. This series features wildlife images, which Bill has always admired, that seem to literally "evolve" out of twisted pieces of driftwood. Perhaps, this could be seen as a return to his early years and his love of nature's own art form, driftwood.

Today, Bill is the creative force behind two collectible series and a host of other products marketed by his companies. The future holds many more dreams yet to be fulfilled. You are invited to share in Bill's creative works today and become a part of the family of collectors worldwide who have discovered the art of this unusually creative man.

We firmly believe that you will agree. Bill Vernon is the best kept secret in the collectibles industry! Back To Top

The Production Process

Starting with nothing more than a piece of wood in his hands and a vision in his head, Bill sits down at his sculpting table. As he carves and manipulates his media, his idea takes on a "life" of it's own A figure begins to "evolve" from the twisted wood. Hence the name "Series Of Evolution". This original design is encapsulated in a rubber molding material that picks up every detail.

The original design is now removed but destroyed by the process. A resin base material is cast into the rubber. Upon hardening, the piece is cleaned, checked for detail and becomes known as the master from which all future molds will be made.

Production molds are now produced and cast using a hard resin stone material. The pieces are painted with an airbrush stainad and final detailed by hand Each piece is completely handcrafted. No two are alike. Back To Top