I am excited to share with you the creative bursts pouring into the farm this week as we prepare for the Open House. Maria has done a brilliant job of connecting with some gifted artists and celebrating creativity, ours and theirs, and hopefully, yours.

Ed Gulley is a remarkable story, he is lifelong dairy farmer, at first sight he seems to be more at home in Duck Dynasty than an artist’s studio, but he has the soul of an artist and the sensibilities of a poet. Ed is evolving rapidly, his outdoor farm sculptures – made entirely from discarded tools and engine parts on a farm are creative, surprising and surprisingly authentic, especially for what we think of as art.

Like Maria, Ed uses discarded materials, his “hot dog” sculpture above is made of a hammer, a long curved spring and some horseshoes, all native to the farm. He dug up the spring one day and saw the dog. Like me, Ed recognizes the beauty of the true farm, they are not sylvan and postcard-pretty, they are raw, congested, filled with junk and debris.

Ed is turning that debris into art, in between the grueling work and schedule of the farm, and supported by his wife Carol. The two have translated their energy into a new and already popular blog, the Bejosh Farm Journal.

Ed’s hot dog sculpture is $75 (it would probably cost about $20 to ship it from here) and it is in our back yard, going on sale Saturday and Sunday at our Open House. That is an almost shockingly low price for an original out door work like that, it hasn’t yet gone to Ed’s head.

I tried to buy this one myself – I want it for my desk – but Maria says that isn’t fair. If someone who can’t make it to the Open House wants to buy it, e-mail Maria – [email protected].

Ed is the real deal, I have never seen anyone unleash the creative spark as skillfully and authentically as he has. And he still looks like he should be on Duck Dynasty. Somehow, I see Ed and I as being very much alike, for reasons I don’t quite comprehend.

Maria and I both understand that most of our readers and blog followers don’t live anywhere near Bedlam Farm – our blogs are not local – and a lot of you have asked that  you be included. This is one way to do that. I love Ed’s hot dog, I doubt it will last long. Wait till you see his Goose.