Taken from the Hartford Daily News-May 9, 2000
HOW DOES HIS GARDEN GROW? WITH WOOD, STEEL AND GRANITE
Hartford builder constructs a 2nd occupation
By Gay Griesbach
Next time you face the daunting chore of mowing the lawn, consider Don Priewe and where his stroll down the garden path led him.
Not only did Priewe transform his Hartford lot into a horticultural wonderland, his garage has become a studio where he welds, saws and fits wood, granite, copper and steel into beautiful and functional works of art.
Priewe and his wife, Caroline, daughter Christina and son Josh moved into the circa 1910 Hartford home about 10 years ago, and after a spate of indoor remodeling, he tackled the yard -with a passion. "I hate mowing grass," said Priewe.
From the arbor-trellised front walk to the backyard garden that is flanked with two, 2.5 ton pink granite pillars, Priewe's eye for the dramatic and different are evident. "The neighbors love it," said Priewe, who has traded several bushes and blooms with nearby residents and their families.
Found and traded serviceberry bushes and volunteer elms grow in the farthest part of the L-shaped yard, and next to the studio rests one of Priewe's first handmade pieces- a willow twig bench he built while still working in the tree industry, a job he held until three back surgeries ended his job of 15 years.
"I knew inside I was always a builder," he said.
The sculptor has pooled those energies into the construction of granite-topped tables, cedar and copper benches and welded steel sculptures. He comes by his working materials in the same way he acquired many of his garden plants.
"Things find me," Priewe said.
And those found objects have been formed into steel spiders that guard beverages at the picnic table, metal flowers and masks that sprout between hydrangeas and day lilies.
Benches and tables are made without nails, and Priewe said they are meant to improve with age and exposure to the elements. He is happy to explain his unique construction methods, which keeps parts weatherproof that may rust or decay and detract from the piece.
His self-designed furniture is influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright and the turn of the century Arts and Crafts movement.
"I like the simple lines," he said.