We often tell the stories of artists and scenes in cities and towns, but with our new series Off the Grid, we're featuring the stories of artists who live a little further out.
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Andreas Drenters spent his childhood tinkering in his father's blacksmith shop. There, he would spend his time making toys for himself and his friends with materials found around the family farm. As the son of an inventor and surrounded by an abundance of 16th and 17th century forged agricultural objects, Drenters used to lose sleep thinking up ways to use what was around him.
"I love coming through that door every morning to see what I can create today," he says from his studio nestled in Rockwood, Ont. "It gives me so much joy."
60 years and a lawn full of large-scale, interactive scrap metal sculptures later, it's clear that his early experiences still influence his art.
"I like whimsical things; I'm still a kid at heart," Drenters admits. "I still like the enjoyment of making toys."
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About: Welcome to CBC Arts, your home for the most surprising, relevant and provocative stories featuring artists from diverse communities across Canada. Our job is to fill your feed with the disruptors and innovators changing how we see the country through movement, images and sound - and to inspire you to join in too.