robert lee wright, 67, made impact with art, compassion

Rodney Lee \"Z\" Wright looked out from the balcony above his studio, a cigarette dangling from his lips and a hat covering his forehead.
Lifelike self
Portrait is one of half a picture
Wright\'s more than a dozen projects in his ventilation studio in the shady oak area
It includes two wooden boats, an origami crane sculpture and other abstract metal and wooden wall-hung.
Wright, 67, as an artist, has influenced from making wooden doors for Mission San Juan to designing a public radio station T-
Shirt that died in December23.
\"He can make anything,\" Potter and the eye doctor said . \"
Dudley Harris, his close friend and supporter
A few years ago, when Harris saw him, he invited Wright to live in a house he and his wife owned near their home, where they later built a studio.
Harris said the arrangement gave Wright the ability to create his art freely without worrying about making money from it.
Wright, known for his nicknames \"Z\" and \"Zero\", has spent most of his time pursuing artistic passion, a pursuit that has allowed him to travel all over the country and the world.
Cindy Neil said he followed in the footsteps of his grandfather who served in the first and second world wars and his father who served in the second and North Korean wars, Wright\'s cousin
But even in the Army, he pursued art and worked as an illustrator for three years in the Army\'s psychological actions.
Harris said he spent some time in South Korea where he fell in love with eating kimchi and learned about some of the things he later used when painting the logo.
\"Never Say what you don\'t want, say what you want,\" Wright told him . \".
Wright rode his bike in Europe with a box of paint and brushes.
Harris said he would paint and sell signboards when he needed money.
His later home included Sarasota, Florida.
He worked for the Lin Brothers Circus and the Big Apple Circus in New York and New York respectively.
\"Wright thinks the circus is a fantasy world,\" said Carole falbray, Wright\'s sister . \".
He is very fascinated by studying large robots.
Scale projects such as circus scenes and cannons where actors were shot and killed.
He also went to Maine and Washington to study shipbuilding.
Wright built three wooden boats: a small sailing boat called Roo, a small boat called Gently, and a boat called 16-
Foot daysailer made of Spanish cedar, ash and white oak.
They\'re tough, details.
Hard work, Wright put it in.
\"He appreciates the beautiful design and the smooth sailing,\" Folbre said . \".
In San Antonio, his carpentry includes the mission of San Juan\'s door, crafted to match the historical setting.
He made a rainbow.
The colorful camper is equipped with kitchens, plumbing and appliances and is ready to travel to West Texas to map the landscape, Harris said.
When he took over a new project, Folbre said, he was working nervously until the project was completed, \"with complete focus on enabling him to do so many things . \".
For years, Wright walked twice a day with Harris\'s dog and often talked about the newspaper stories they had read.
Wright knew his neighbor.
Not just their names.
\"He knew about them,\" Harris said . \"
Wright is a storyteller, but he also makes others want to tell their own stories.
\"He is always willing to be vulnerable and engage in very in-depth research,\" said cousin Neil . \".
She said he knew what to tell her when she needed encouragement and was \"willing to push people to believe in themselves \".
Wright\'s sympathy for the animals.
Harris said that he fed the deer herd living nearby every day and built a wooden feeding box for the raccoon and skunk, which the deer could not enter.
Folbre says her brother has a crush on the deer.
Name many of them and spend \"every bit of salary\" on expensive feed \".
\"He makes you feel that life is so mysterious and beautiful,\" Folbre said . \".