'The Simple Life' Meets Local Artist's Needs

By Darren Brown, News9.com

OKLAHOMA CITY -- In light of the current economic situation, some folks are making the effort to "simplify" their lives.  One local artist is way ahead of the curve.

Ron Ferrell has been a welder for most of his life.  He even taught it at the high school level.  He also travels to art shows selling his one-of-a-kind creations.  But he'd never built a house, until a few years ago.

"I took that set of skills that I have as an artist and a welder from an oilfield, and built a big box," Ferrell said.  "I didn't need a blueprint for that." 

Ferrell claims his house is more than just energy efficient.

"It's passive cooling, passive heat, wood heat, composting toilet, and gray water system," he said.  "Want less, use less, owe less.  That's how I operate." 

Ferrell hasn't always lived so modestly.  He's held his share of "normal" jobs.  But he always longed for the simple days of his childhood in western Oklahoma.

"The way I grew up, of growing food, catching water off the roof, livestock, growing our own crops, that still has a big appeal to me," he said.

But Ferrell rejects the "survivalist" label.

"No, I want to survive, but not at the exclusion of the rest of the world," Ferrell said.  "I think we can all survive together."