Crafting some skills Man gives TROSA whimsical art business
Originally published in: The Herald-Sun
Friday, August 03, 2007
Edition: Final
Page: A1,
BY BRIANNE DOPART bdopart@heraldsun.com; 419-6684
Some see art as therapy.
For Ahmad Paktiawal, it's a way back from the abyss of drug addiction.
Paktiawal is an Afghan refugee addicted to crack cocaine for 10 years before turning his life around in a two-year program with Durham's Triangle Residents Overcoming Substance Abuse (TROSA).
Never during his decade of drug abuse, he said, did he stop creating art.
Drawing was his hobby and his true passion, even when drugs were helping him to lead a life he didn't want to lead.
So it's fitting that Paktiawal, now a member of TROSA's Scholar program and a student at UNC Chapel Hill, was tapped to lead a new project that wouldn't be possible without the generosity of a local community activist and artist.
Ken Gasch, a father and real estate agent whose whimsical creations are sold across the state and country in posh galleries and upscale craft stores, said he was looking for a new challenge and a new line of business when he decided to give up his business, HLD Productions.
"I was ready to climb different mountains," Gasch said. "For a while I had been going through the motions of the business and then I began thinking about selling it."
But then Gasch had a thought: He could give his business to TROSA and TROSA residents could learn skills while generating much needed income for the private, nonprofit organization.
Gasch donated his entire business, and sold a few pieces of equipment, to the organization so production could start immediately.
"It was something I'd spent so many years on, but I feel good about moving on," he said. "I just feel really good about the skill set it brings and what it can teach others."
Gasch didn't just turn the project over -- he's been deeply involved in training. Paktiawal said Gasch has come to the warehouse every few days to answer questions and help when Paktiawal and his trainees get stuck.
Paktiawal is leading the project and works training others on how to craft Gasch's most popular sellers, lever and pulley based machines with a spinning wheel that offers answers to questions.
Pull the lever on the box labeled Fortune Teller to find out if your mother-in-law is moving in. Watch the wheel spin and get a wisecrack response: Is the Pope Catholic?
Ask the Meal Planner what to have for dinner and get counseled: Seafood Delight.
Now, Paktiawal and two other TROSA residents are headed to an art show in Philadelphia for their first opportunity to present their version of Gasch's art. The show, to take place Saturday, will be Paktiawal's debut and the realization of a long dream.
He's shown his own work at shows, he said, but never imagined going to a major trade show.
"And I never managed myself using a skill saw, or training others," he laughed.
Bright-eyed and soft-spoken, Paktiawal knows he's been given an important task. He said he's determined to continue Gasch's former business and to pass on the skills he's picked up to others in the program.
"I am honored to be continuing Ken's legacy," he said.
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