Creating with concrete is a definite science, the testimony of trade association and business research and development labs, university curriculum and enough industry-sponsored studies to fill the Superdome.

But creating with concrete is also an art form with beautiful buildings, homes and fixtures that twist and flow with the imagination, museum displays and a small collection of individuals who ply their talent in concrete.

Concrete sculpture T.J. Neil is one of these artists. Working outside out of his World of Concrete Sculptures in Homosassa, Fla. near Crystal City, Neil sculpts commissioned pieces of art in reinforced concrete. This artist of the people, who doesn't use molds for any part of his work, has created characters ranging from Elvis Presley to Popeye to a football-tossing Florida Gator mascot to gargoyle gate guards.

Some of his most beautiful work are animals - hundreds or thousands of pounds of dinosaurs, dolphins, manatees, eagles, bears, dragons and so on.
The tools of his art includes wire lath, reinforcing bars, stone, portland cement and sand.

But art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Prior to 1994, he did his sculptures from his home in Floral City, Fla. until city fathers said he needed a licensee to build and display his work there. They wouldn't give him the necessary permits, citing neighbors who objected to the huge sculptures "littering up the neighborhood."

He moved his family-run operation - ton after ton of it - from his longtime home to commercial property near the airport at Crystal City, Fla.

Neil's background includes working in construction as an ironworker and a concrete finisher for 20 years. He says he got his artistic talents from his mother, but it was his wife, Jean, and her construction contractor father who introduced him to his medium and helped him become proficient in its use. He's now been at it for 30 years.

His son, T.J. Junior, has attended the Ringling School of Art & Design in Florida and is also sculpting reinforced concrete designs; his daughter, Tina Hayes, is his agent; daughters Theresa and Angela help to paint the sculptures; and his wife comes through in the clutch, once creating just the right set of eyes for a dragon sculpture.

If Neil had his way, he'd spend all of his time creating those images he sees in his heart and his mind, but his art is more than his muse, it is his business and it helps to support several families.

"You want it, we sculpt it," Neil said. "The sky is the limit, and we do not use molds. Every piece is a one and only signed, dated and can be shipped anywhere in the world."

To see his portfolio or for more information, see tjneil.com or call 352-621-0853.