Graham man lights up faces with his horseshoe art

Some artist put brush to canvas, others pen to paper. One Graham couple makes whimsical creations from horseshoes. Rickie Rolley has been busy in his workshop since his retirement four years ago, welding the horseshoes into pumpkins, crosses, benches and more, while his wife Jeanie adds color to his creations.

Rickie said he learned to weld like he learned many things in life, from working with family. “My uncle taught me how to weld,” Rickie said, “He and my dad. We always did all our own work for ourselves, mechanic work and everything. So I just picked it up.”

While he doesn’t consider himself a welder, he has skills that help him create all sorts of things out of old horseshoes. On display in their home are some of the pumpkins he’s made, painted orange with green stems by Jeanie. On one wall hangs a cross, on another an angel, both made from the horseshoes.

Rickie and Jeanie Rolley, holding some of their creations.

The piece Rickie is most proud of is a rocking chair he made for Jeanie as a gift. It sits in their living room, and while you’d think a rocking chair made of horseshoes wouldn’t be very comfortable, it really is. The seat and back are covered with leather panels, and a few cushions make it a nice place to sit.

Rickie said he’s put close to 30 hours into the rocking chair, which he designed by looking at a photograph of a similar chair made from horseshoes. “A lot of the things he’s made,” Jeanie said, “he’s worked off of a picture.”

Another of his more complex pieces was a bench he made for a friend. He created that piece without any guides or photographs. “I just started, and made it,” Rickie said. He ended up making two of them, for two different friends. They had 165 horseshoes in each.

Horseshoe rocking chair, made by Rickie Rolley. (Leader-News photos/Stacie Barton)

The first step for Rickie is to clean the horseshoes. “That’s the biggest problem, is cleaning them. They get rusty and will have nails in them. You got to get those nails out, and then you got to use a wire brush to clean them.”

The next step is to make cuts to the horseshoes, to create the shape Rickie is looking to achieve. Some pieces require cutting and bending the horseshoes.

One day, someone stopped and saw Rickie’s work, and asked him if he’d sell the rocking chair for $200. He told him, “Buddy, you don’t realize it’s got $200 worth of horseshoes in it!”

Rickie doesn’t sell much of his work. Instead, he enjoys giving it away. “I enjoy doing something for somebody else,” he said. He enjoys making something with his hands. “I made about 120 of those pumpkins out of horseshoes that I gave away,” he said. They were gifted to friends and women at church.

Rickie uses mostly used horseshoes for his work. People often pick them up for him when they come across some at an auction, or if they own horses and have been to the farrier for shoeing they’ll grab him some.

After working most of his life in the oil fields, Rickie said he never had much time to do things like make art from horseshoes. While his job consumed much of his free time, he said he made great connections along the way. “The Lord blessed us with a lot of good friends. I’ve met a lot of good men in my walk of life.”

Every now and then someone will have an order they’d like to place with Rickie, for several items or something particular. Those are the rare occasions when he’ll sell his work. Otherwise, he makes his horseshoe artwork because he likes to have the hobby to fill his time. And he likes to give it to others, to spread some joy.