As the wheat in a Kansas field ripens, it turns from green in color to a rich gold, tan, and brown – accented with just a trace of copper. Today in Kansas Profile we’ll meet a Kansas craftsman who creates beautiful works of art representing Kansas symbols such as wheat, using actual copper, brass and steel.
Tracy Hett is owner of Trace of Copper in Marion, Kansas. “My grandfather started this whole thing,” Tracy said. “He was a very creative man.” It seemed he could fix anything on the farm, and in the winter months, he would tinker in his shop.
“He would weld together nuts and bolts and make a figurine or a windmill,” Tracy said. Then people wanted to buy them.
“I was close with my grandpa,” Tracy said. “As a little kid, I wanted to do what he was doing. I learned by watching him as he cut out designs and welded them together.”
One of his favorite designs was a head of wheat. If someone was visiting his shop, Tracy’s grandfather would build a metallic head of wheat, and then give it to them.
Tracy worked in his father’s grain elevator business. In 1985, he started to make these metallic creations of art himself. Like his grandfather, he created these hand-crafted metal sculptures by welding or brazing pieces of brass, copper or steel together and selling them. As a play on his first name, he called the business Trace of Copper.
Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Tracy Hett – Trace of Copper”
