An Artist Unafraid to Go Out on a Limb

Don Henry will start setting up his booths at the Silverado Days festival two days before anyone else. And it’s unlikely he’ll be done with his exhibit when the four-day fair concludes Sunday.

Silverado organizers are happy to accommodate Henry, 52, a former contractor best known for his creation behind Smith & Son’s Glass & Screens shop on Orangethorpe Avenue: the notorious cathouse tree.

Henry was helping his friend Fred Smith remove a limb from one of the 100-year-old California pepper trees in the shop yard when they found a kitten hiding in one of the tree’s huge hollows. Henry decided it needed a cathouse around the tree opening.

Ten years later, the cathouse has its own tiny outhouse, complete with miniature toilet paper, and a little rickety ladder. The original kitten is gone, but two black feral cats call the tree home.

After throwing over life as a wage-earner years ago, Henry started collecting “junk” and turning it into art. His pepper trees are home to metal sculptures, old telephones and car parts, and many birdhouses with license-plate roofs. Henry said he stares at pieces of wood until he sees the “forest person” within it and then carves it out.

“Did you ever stare at clouds when you were a kid and see things there?” he asked. “That’s all I do.”

Smith said he never intended for Henry to take over yard behind his shop. But the cathouse tree has become a source of fascination for Smith and others.

“He’s got the right idea about life,” Smith said. “Like he says, he never lets a job get in the way of his work.”

For the second year, Henry will have booths at the Silverado Days fair, featuring birdhouses and other wood creations.

Silverado Days, which is expected to draw up to 200,000 people, begins at 3 p.m. Thursday and concludes Sunday night. The fair is held at Peak Park at Knott Avenue and El Dorado Drive.