Craftsman Nelson creates a steel coronavirus

FALLBROOK – Steve Nelson, a longtime Fallbrook resident and master craftsman and metalsmith, sculpted his own interpretation of COVID-19 made of stainless steel and illuminated within to show the intricate design of little perforations through the metal. It was cut, soldered, welded, pounded, buffed and details put on with a plasma cutter.

"Steve is a self-taught sculptor and painter who has done works for many happy clients, but has never had a public exhibition of his work," Jack Ragland, a fellow artist and close friend of Nelson, said.

Nelson's past works include designing a 9-foot-long steel easel that is powered by a garage door opener, mounted on Ragland's studio roof. He has also made an old-fashioned, wooden water wheel, which is powered by an electric pump in the metal basin, with copper lily pads.

"Steve also completely reconstructed an entire wind mill that had blown down many years ago. He relocated it near our driveway," Ragland said. "Since then, the windmill blew down again in a strong Santa Ana wind. Steve recently completely replaced the structure with a welded steel structure, which added another 8 feet to the total height."

The original windmill was featured on the cover of the 2006 Fallbrook Sourcebook. Also, when Nelson was 25, he entered a rocket contest in the Lucerne Valley in the high desert. His homemade rocket broke the sound barrier and won the contest.

"Steve is a quiet, humble man, and I've come to learn of his many accomplishments over the years from talking to other people, since he never brags," Ragland said. "I want to introduce Steve here with his recent creation, so he can be appreciated by more people."

Submitted by Jack Ragland.