AURELIA, Iowa — Ingenuity and creativity spring from nearly every farmer's shop. Out of necessity, farmers must get creative when repairing or modifying tractors and farm equipment. Some come up with their own designs, building their own equipment.
Denny Allen has done all of that in his shop, but his creativity goes beyond farm-related work. "I've always had a mind for putting things together," Allen said while standing amidst the scrap iron and tools in the tidy shop at his home south of Aurelia. "I can make anything, but I can't make anything square.
" Denny Allen, a now-retired farmer who for years has created sculptures from scrap metal, stands at a mammoth he made that's on display along the Kiwanis Walking Path in Aurelia, Iowa. Allen estimates he's made 50-60 large pieces and dozens of smaller pieces, and 10 of them can be found along the trail in Aurelia. Good thing the creations for which he's known don't need perfect angles.
Since 1986, but especially in the past five years, Allen has welded together worn-out pieces from farm equipment, old tools, scrap iron and almost anything else into a menagerie of metal sculptures of all shapes and sizes. "I keep telling people it keeps me out of the bar," he said with a hearty laugh. "It's fun being creative.
" He calls his creations crude, but each has a unique beauty that becomes more appreciable when you take an up-close look and see what discarded items Allen utilized to make the features of his animals come to life. Denn.