PORTRAIT OF A METAL SCULPTOR

John Benjamin and his wife, Susan, own a newspaper in the Central Florida area. Most people call him "Trader Jake," because he looks just like the logo for the newspaper, which can be found at traderjakes.net

They work really hard as a team to pull the newspaper together every week. While it is Susan who does most of the layout and pasteup, it is John who makes sure the schedule runs smoothly, and he makes sure the delivery of the newspapers is on schedule each week. He also does a multitude of other behind the scenes jobs, including writing some of the stories and screening the articles submitted by the public. To keep this operation running smoothly, John drives all over the central and eastern parts of Florida delivering the paper and picking up ad copy.

Trader Jake's is a weekly publication that specializes in classified ads, but is also blessed with donations from the local historians who donate antique photographs of the area.

But what many people who know John personally know is that he is an awesome artist. He can draw, but his specialty is single original bronze sculpture. He has a sculpture of a cockroach that is several feet tall on display at an art gallery in St. Cloud, Florida. My personal favorite is a piece he calls, "Good Ship Earth," pictured above. This is a sculpture of two men fighting aboard a ship as it is sinking. There is great detail, and the man on the top is actually able to kick the man on the bottom, as the upper man's leg can actually be moved!

I also like the man sitting under the apple tree. He has a definite uniqueness in his art, and his talent is highly sought after. The golden retriever he made several years ago sold for quite a high price.

There are so many wonderful sculptures he has done, and he is still possibly available to take requests. I am honored to have access to his art to put on display here for all to see.

John has traveled around the globe in his life, living in places such as England, Israel, New York and Florida, among others.