My Chairlift–A Piece of Art and Place to Sit 10 Years in the Making [VIDEO]

Wow. I don't think I've ever done much of anything that took ten years.

It wasn't ten years of sustained effort. Most of the time, I only noticed the chairlift when I had to move from one spot to another and I had to decide whether or not it was time to part with the thing.

During our last move, I asked my wife, "Should we keep this thing?" She knew how much it would mean to me if I could finish it and have it on our patio. Even though we didn't even know if we'd have a patio, because we were between situations.

I am so glad that I hung on to it!

I did all the work on the actual chair, besides the powder coating, which I paid to have done.

Then, I had to figure out how to hang it, or rest it, somewhere that it fit, both aesthetically and physically. I had a lot of ideas that, had I tried to do them myself, would have been cumbersome, poorly executed and probably ugly. That's part of what took so long. I didn't know what to build or how to build it.

Then I realized that my good friend Jay Koehler was the perfect person for the job. He's an artist, and his company is Steel Bird Artworks. With him, I realized I could accomplish function and fashion. Just look what he did with this barrel.

He understands living art, and he understands me. We've been playing together for more than ten years. I don't know why I didn't just bring it to him in the beginning.