Eric Madsen | Pipe Wrench No. 1 | Graphite and Watercolor | 2005

The three images selected for this exhibition are part of a current series called Carlyle’s Tools, which now numbers approximately 20 pieces. Carlyle Steinke, my father-in-law, was a Wisconsin native who graduated from the University of Wisconsin as a mechanical engineer.  He spent his entire professional career with the Cutler-Hammer corporation in Milwaukee, where he built a house for his family in the 1930’s.  In the early 60’s, he built a second home in Door County, Wisconsin, where he and his wife eventually retired. Many of the tools he used were handed down to him from his grandfather and his father.  In some cases, the tools were actually made by them, as they were blacksmiths, furniture makers and plumbers in the Waterford, Wisconsin area, where Carlyle was born in 1910. Last year, I began drawing a selection of his tools that I thought had both character and history.  Carlyle passed away in 1998.m