Architect to artist

Masao Yamada can't believe his friend can drink so much Diet Coke, but he doesn't mind.

He has learned how to cut, fold and mold the aluminum cans into birds, flowers and lizards. He has cases of cans in his garage, which the former architect has converted into his own private art studio.

He grew tired of the politics, high blood pressure and headaches. His wife, also a former architect, had health issues of her own. He was ready to walk away from the industry.

That didn't mean he wanted to stop working.

"I didn't want to just retire and do nothing else," Yamada said.

He visited his home country of Japan and returned with a new hobby. Soon he decided to put an extra twist on the art of block origami. He wanted to switch to metals.

At first, he couldn't think of a metal that was easy to fold. Then he reached for a nearby aluminum can.

He cut off the top and bottom and discovered he had a 3-by-7 inch piece of material to use. He has been doing it nonstop since April and he has made more than 50 art pieces, not including the hundreds of necklaces he has hanging in shadow boxes in his studio.

One 10-inch art piece requires about 60 cans.

Yamada cuts the aluminum with a pair of sheers. Because the metal is relatively soft, he does his work barehanded. He hasn't drawn blood once, he said.

He uses at least 80 percent of the metal from every can.

"With the depression-recession we're living through, I can make a living with this," he said.

Truthfully, Yamada forged a lucrative career as an architect, designing buildings for the Tampa and St. Petersburg campuses of the University of South Florida. Much of his career also was spent in St. Louis, he said.

He was born in 1938 in Miyazu City, Japan, and attended Doshisha University before he moved to the United States in 1961 to study at Washington University School of Architecture in St. Louis.

He worked and traveled from Mexico to Hong Kong before settling in Tampa in 1986.

Yamada's artistic life began almost immediately after retirement in 2003. He has taught classes on block origami and has exhibited his water color paintings and stencil art locally.

He prefers to work with aluminum rather than draw sketches.

"I'm much more interested in working with my hands," he said.

Yamada, who now lives full time in the Pine Island house he and his wife originally bought as a weekend home, has bigger dreams for his art.

He would eventually like to work with larger sheets of aluminum and build something passersby would notice - something that could be displayed in a courtyard or in front of an office building.

In the meantime, he is working on smaller pieces. He folds the small sheets of aluminum and pieces them together to make a variety of designs. He then takes the tops and bottoms of the cans and turns them into "canvases" for his jewelry.

A book-designer friend wore one of his broaches at a private party in New York. It was noticed by several people - including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

She now owns one of his pieces, Yamada said.

He has given workshops on making art with recyclable materials, which is something he said has been gaining steam in the art community.

He will display his aluminum art for the first time in November at the Fall Harvest of Art in Weeki Wachee.

"This isn't really the place to sell," said Yamada of Hernando County. "This is a place to produce ... and a great place to live."