User:Latrongrimes37

'''Larry Grimes Sr

Scrap Iron Sculptor, Tutwiler The Delta

Anyone who has traveled on Highway 49 West through the Mississippi Delta has seen Larry Grimes’ work. His home is on the east side of the road, about halfway between Parchman Penitentiary and Rome, Mississippi. Grimes’ home is the only house for miles each way, and the place beckons like a neon sign. You notice the high security fence first, then the modest house and its cluttered yard, but then you see them: those glorious handmade metal sculptures standing at attention along the fence line. It might take a little slowing down to see the treasures within, but once they’re spotted, you’ll want to turn back around for another look.

Grimes is a Mississippi native. Born in Greenville in 1952,to the late Issac and Delvene Grimes. He was a retired Vietnam military veteran of the United States, Correctional Officer for twenty years at the Mississippi State Penitentiary and a former Deputy Sheriff of Sunflower County for twelve years. In his free time, Larry enjoyed spending time at the Po Monkey’s Lounge Willie Seaberry and Larry Grimes, both unique artists and unlikely friends, share a long history of life in the Delta and a love for Jukin’ Larry loved to make art from his treasures.Earned an honest living, When he returned home to the Mississippi Delta after the war, Grimes looked for a way to occupy his mind. After sorting through a junk pile one day, he picked up a welder and his unique metal figures were born. Using everything from ironing boards to sewing machines, shovel heads to chandeliers, Grimes gives each of his life-sized figures a special character all its own. Some figures are representations of friends or neighbors; others are caricatures of politicians and celebrities. All of them are ingenious creations made entirely of recycled materials and brightly painted to further enhance the personality of the piece.

In this part of the Delta, Grimes’ work is so well known that friends and strangers regularly drop off materials for him to work with. Whether it’s a neighbor who just took down a metal fence or a stranger who knows some metal pipes will be put to good use, scores of folks stop to drop their junk off—or simply heft it over Grimes’ fence—to leave their scraps in good hands.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Grimes doesn’t sell his work, although his work has been spotted in galleries. He says that his wife has been known to sell a piece or two when he’s not there.unfortunately Larry passed away on Saturday, November 23, 2019 at his home at the age of 67.'''