Derrell Vaughn, Jr

Montgomery County

Metal/Folk Arts

Derrell said most of his material comes from “dumpster diving on remodel sites of old homes and barns” while his ideas are “mostly ‘eureka theory’ ideas where the light bulb lights”. Plumbing copper, roofing tin, driftwood, old lumber and other items make up his palette. And thus my art enterprise

Derrell was a close friend of Montgomery artist Mose T who exposed him to folk art in the late 1980’s. “He called me Plumberfriend and thus my art enterprise is Plumberfriend Copperworks.

Derrell’s creations began when he closed his plumbing shop and turned it into a studio. He began making copper flowers around 2003, but later started making other pieces out of his found objects. His soldered copper flowers stand alone or are combined with wood and metal found objects.