WILSON, N.C. – The eccentric vision of a self-taught North Carolina artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs is getting an overhaul that's as much about engineering as it is about art.

LUCAMA, N.C. (AP) — When a breeze brushes through the field just below Vollis Simpson’s machine shop, you can hear the sounds of metal clanging against metal and of Ferris wheel-like contraptions ...

If you don’t know what a whirligig is, head for a unique festival this weekend in Wilson, North Carolina. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a whirligig as “a child’s toy having a whirling motion, ...

RALEIGH, N.C. Where others saw trash, Vollis Simpson saw whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs, creations with hundreds of moving parts that turned and twirled. The whirligigs were made from recycled ...

Dear Helaine and Joe: I have finally summoned the courage to write and ask about this whirligig discovered in the barn of the old house my husband and I bought. I have no idea how old it is, or ...

RALEIGH, N.C. — Vollis Simpson, a self-taught North Carolina artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs, has died. He was 94. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ...

For more than 20 years, Peter Gelker has been creating whirligigs. As a child Gelker – now a physician, psychiatrist and psychoanalyst – watched his father build the spinning objects. In his spare ...

When a breeze brushes through the field just below Vollis Simpson's machine shop, you can hear the sounds of metal clanging against metal and of Ferris wheel-like contraptions turning. Subscribe to ...

In this Thursday, June 21, 2012 file photo, whirligig artist Vollis Simpson sits outside his shop in Lucama, N.C. Simpson, a self-taught artist famed for his whimsical, wind-powered whirligigs, has ...