When David Johnson shows you a Subaru muffler and says he's going to make a sculpture of a guitar from it, all you see are two contorted stainless steel front pipes, a front exhaust and a worn-out resonator propped against a brick wall.

But Johnson, 49, makes elaborate sculptures out of mufflers. From angels to animals to birds - his repertory includes 50 gallery-sized artworks.

"I started doing sculptures in 1989," said Johnson, who's worked on mufflers for a living since 1986. "I was working on a car and I was cutting the flex pipe in half and a piece fell to the ground. It was shaped just like a lobster's tail. I thought about it all day and after work I went to the back of the workshop and made a lobster. I couldn't believe what I did. I loved it."

Johnson never looked back.

As a new artist, he toiled from 6 p.m. to midnight every day after work, with an hour's break for dinner. A novice, he'd sometimes start unsure of what form the artwork would take.

"When I first created a 6-foot eagle, I didn't know how I did it," Johnson said. "I knew it was going to be a bird. So when I finished it, I started to cry."

Since the time he began his craft, Johnson has gone through myriad life experiences - heartbreaks, loss of job, relocation - but his art has always been a safe refuge, an insulation of sorts.

Johnson now helps at his friend's muffler shop on Joerschke Drive in Grass Valley. He has a studio in downtown Grass Valley. He relocated to the area in 1997.

"When I create art, I get into another world," he said. "I turn off the switch. It's my own space where I can make anything I want, do anything I want."

Over the years, Johnson has sold artworks with varying success in a wide range of prices.

"The price of my artworks started around $150 (when he started) and went up to $500 to $1,000 between 1989 and 1995, and then recently I sold a piece for $2,000," Johnson said.

What Johnson now seeks are venues to exhibit his work to the public.

"I am now looking for places where people can enjoy the beauty of my art," Johnson said. "I have been tucking these pieces away in my house, and at the back of the shops I've worked at since 1989. I now want people to see them, enjoy them, and appreciate my work."

ooo

To contact Soumitro Sen, e-mail soumitros@theunion.com or call 477-4229.