When we were young, our parents were always trying to involve my brother and I in art projects during the winter holidays.
This extended to all of the major festive holidays throughout the year, but we were always partial towards the winter holidays. Sometimes we would sew stockings and make ornaments for the Christmas tree out of polymer clay. While I cherish these memories myself, my brother used these experiences as the bedrock for a future as a visual artist. He started taking immense interest in art by middle school and was an accomplished sculptor by the time he was ready to apply for college. Sculpting seemed to be my brother’s focus, although he could paint and draw better than anyone I knew as well. Clay was fun to use when my brother had it out on the kitchen table, but I never took a liking to the visual arts like my brother. Now he’s an ironworker by day and weld steel rebar tie wire for large building projects in the city. By night he’s an artist utilizing leftover rebar to build sculptures and practical items like door handles and fence railing. This year my brother engaged in holiday art projects using his steel rebar wire, and even made a metal Christmas tree for his yard and put lights on it. When I pulled into his driveway at night and saw the new rebar decoration, I knew my brother had been busy in his workshop again. He made me a new key rack holder while he was welding the large tree together. I was extremely thankful for his unique gift made out of rebar.