D Monday, September 21, 2009 METRO My handy war holes by miles erwin WALTON CREEL really does like to suffer for his art. Each time he embarks on a new project he risks life and limb as he has developed a technique of creating im- ages by firing bullets through sheets of aluminium. Pumping up to 5,000 shots into a piece of metal at point blank range puts Mr Creel at risk of being wound- ed by a ricocheting bullet. But the dangers are shrugged off by the 34-year-old who has found ac- claim with his dot-to-dot style pic- tures of US wildlife which sell for 3,000 each. Growing up in the south-eastern US, there is a culture tied to guns and outdoor sports in general, said Mr Creel of Birmingham, Alabama. I had wanted to incorporate guns into my art for quite a while. I eventu- ally took a canvas and a gun into the woods and saw the potential for a technique to develop. I replaced the canvas with a white painted sheet of reinforced aluminium and placed the barrel directly against the metal. Since I developed this technique on land used for hunting, I thought it was only fitting that my first subject mat- ter should be southern wildlife. He said his portraits of deer, rabbits, owls and squirrels made with a .22 calibre rifle deweaponise the gun he got as a present from his father. An artist who uses his gun to create life, not take it Oppossum: The Uss only marsupial Detailed: A wren from Creels collectionintricate: Creel, below, creates his pictures by firing gunshots into metal index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html