Morgan Hill Today 2014 06 Summer | Page 52

Hollywood Discovers Local Artist

Paul Laughridge

Written & Photographed By Laura Wrede

They say that one man ’ s junk is another man ’ s treasure , but to Paul Loughridge ( pronounced loc-rij ) junk is his art . It ’ s this “ junk art ” that Hollywood recently discovered when they found photos of Paul ’ s sculptures on Flickr . Paul creates crazy pieces out of everything from broken coffee pots and toasters to rusty old vacuum cleaners and thermos bottles at Lockwasher Design Studio in Morgan Hill , CA .

It all started back in high school when he earned the name Lockwasher from a classmate in a metal shop . Years later when he needed a name for his studio , Lockwasher Design seemed to fit . “ I choose not to weld , solder or glue my sculptures together . I drill and bolt all of the pieces . Sometimes I will use a lockwasher in the assemble .” From that method , Lockwasher Design was born . Creating things came naturally for Paul .
He grew up in a large family - two brothers and two sisters . With childhood years predating the computer games era , kids had to invent their own fun . “ We were always building stuff . We ’ d tear perfectly good bikes , skateboards and wagons apart and modify them . We didn ’ t always succeed , but that never mattered to us . This early hands-on approach to ‘ mechanical engineering ’ definitely fueled my interest in assemblage ,” said Paul .
It took a few years for Paul to find his creative niche with sculptures . “ I have been a driver , dishwasher , a doughnut jockey , a mechanic , prep cook , bag boy and box spring mattress maker among other things . I was given an opportunity to work at a sports
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