LAKELAND, Fla. — A Lakeland man is using a small part of his beloved vinyl record collection to create a unique form of art.
- Lakeland man turns old records into art
- Bill Lawrence creates silhouette of artist into record
Bill Lawrence has collected about 50,000 vinyl records over the years and he is very protective of them. He’s usually the only one allowed to put them on his record player.
“And I don’t bring them out. I don’t let anybody get near them,” he said.
But a number of years ago, Bill got an idea for creating art from the old records. He creates a silhouette of a recording artist and uses a special drill like tool to cut that image into a record.
It took Lawrence about a year to create his technique.
Record of Ray Charles (Rick Elmhorst/Spectrum News)
“Then I changed bits and started using something else and it started working and once I started I couldn’t stop,” he explained.
Lawrence has created thousands of the images on vinyl records. They include well known artists like Jimmy Hendrix, Jim Morrison, The Beatles, and Ray Charles, just to name a few.
Now, people pay Lawrence good money for his creations. That came as a surprise to his mother.
“My mom would say I don’t know why anyone would collect these faces. Well, I would say, 'Mother they pay me for them.' So she says, 'You don’t have one of Jesus.' So I said, 'OK,' and I ended up making one for my mom and it was Jesus.”
Record of Jim Morrison (Rick Elmhorst/Spectrum News)
Lawrence is constantly on the look out for old records and he buys lots of vinyl records on the Internet and at record shops. Many of his newer purchases are used for the art pieces.
Lawrence has come to terms with cutting into a classic form of art.
“You know I do. I am taking the art that they have done and turned it into a different kind of art,” he said.
Record of Jimmy Hendrix (Rick Elmhorst/Spectrum News)