ORD, Neb. (KOLN) – Trevor Fischer transforms car parts into artwork at his dealership, creating metal sculptures inspired by wildlife and memories of his late wife.
“As you can tell, I’m an improviser,” Fischer said.
Fischer’s creations include a peacock made from salvaged auto parts.
“This is probably one of my first ones that I did a little more elaborate, the peacock. But it’s just an outlet for my frustrations,” he said.
Fischer also uses his art to deal with grief. He created a memorial display for his wife, Debbie.
“The whole display there is a memorial to my beautiful wife. It’s made from her jewelry and the bling off of her shoes,” Fischer said.
He makes metal flowers to place on Debbie’s grave.
“In 2015, my wife got really, really sick. She had two heart surgeries and two spine surgeries. And I decided to start spending more time with her,” Fischer said.
Fischer grew up in Burwell while Debbie grew up in Ord. They married in 1968 and moved to Ord to raise their family, where he ran Fischer Auto Sales.
Fischer started making sculptures about 15 years after they married.
“And my wife was my biggest critic and she was my biggest appraiser. She wasn’t afraid to tell me when she didn’t think something looked right,” he said.
Fischer found his answer to loss in the shop.
“That’s what happens to a lot of guys. They retire and come to town and they don’t have anything to do,” he said.
Fischer gets his art supplies from a salvage yard that he used when he ran Fischer Auto Sales. His business has been open since 1981. The displays that hold his pieces are made from metal scraps.
“A lot of our trade-ins we got was not fit to be back on the road, so they went to Burwell to be junked out, and that’s where I get all these parts,” Fischer said.
He uses engine pieces, differential and transmission parts, drive shafts, flex plates, flywheels, camshafts, push rods and timing chains.
Fischer’s creations are not for sale.
“I just like people that come in and see them. I get more enjoyment out of that than I ever would any money I got out of them,” he said.
His daughter and granddaughter use the same salvage yard to make their own artwork, which they sell in a gift shop called Junkyard Dog Designs.
“They was a lot more creative than I ever was to start out with, so I didn’t have to pass much down at all,” Fischer said.
Fischer’s creations have become more intricate over time.
“(The bull) was a mascot of the school I went to, the Burma Longhorns, and so I had to do that. Since I did a Chanticleer chicken (for Ord’s mascot), I had to do a Burma Longhorn,” he said.
He has completed about 35 sculptures. The gallery includes a dinosaur skeleton, a lion, seahorses, a peacock, a bicycle, an eagle, the head of a longhorn and photos of other award-winning sculptures, along with memorial pieces.
“I guess I have a little trouble too because I love people telling me that looks good,” Fischer said.
The Ord community helps him heal and create more pieces.
“Man, it’s hard to believe how many people come out to help me. It’s pretty neat living in a small town. The people in Ord have been really, really great,” Fischer said.
The next project keeps him going.
“I had the eagle started and I finished it after she passed away. And right now I’m working on three eagles that are sitting in a tree,” Fischer said.
The public is welcome to look through his artwork inside the Fischer Auto Sales building at 1404 M Street in Ord.
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