Living in a rural area off the main route, he doesn't often have passers by. Those who do drive by can enjoy the view of very tall pieces. They always slow down. Some even stop.

We did.

The man was kind and talked with us for a while. He agreed to let me take pictures of his house and his yard. He wishes for his name and location to remain a mystery.

He creates sculptures out of cement.

Oh it didn't start out as works of art, he told me his main concern was to sturdy up his converted schoolhouse with flying buttresses, but in the process, beautiful pieces of art started to appear. The first figures appeared on his schoolhouse walls and then on the front portals and then into the yard while leftover cement become a mask and then another, until the wall of his outdoor shed became filled with faces.

Standing on his property, everywhere you turn a new sculpture appears ... a sculpture made of old fencing and cement. This goes far beyond shoring up an old schoolhouse. This is a man driven to create more and more from deep inside a need to express, to explore using everyday materials.

Why do folks create art?

Because we need to, we are driven to and we are destined to.

As the mystery artist says, "To me, making these things, these creatures, is no different than walking my dog or mowing my lawn. Its just a part of everyday life."

Photographs © Jantje Blokhuis-Mulder;