Somerville Massachusetts artist Kirk Tegelaar, more commonly known as Skunk, has been creating whimsy from steel scraps since 1996, beginning with founding of the sci-fi fueled, friendly bicycle chopper gang SCUL, then evolving his family of endearing and emotional Astrobots. With a very strong background and passion for art since he was a kid in Maine, he learned to be ‘one with the metal’ at Seven Cycles, machining, welding, and finishing custom titanium, steel, and Ti/Carbon bicycle frames.
In 2005 he left production to become the in-house graphic designer for Seven. Skunk is a proud and happy member of the Artisan’s Asylum maker space community, where he’s been teaching a challenging and rewarding monthly TIG welding class since the Asylum was founded in 2010. He runs a studio showroom for anyone to visit during Asylum tours as well as with the artist by appointment.