Doug Jacobsen was raised on a dairy farm in Minnesota. After visiting his brother in Colorado Springs in the early 1980s, he decided to make Colorado his home. Working in construction for several years, Jacobsen dreamed of starting his own business. No stranger to hard work, he had the ambition, space on his property, and desire to work with his hands. The only thing he lacked was a business idea. Then two major events happened in his life. His daughter Victoria was born, and he returned home to Minnesota to aide his father after a fire destroyed his business. While helping his father rebuild, his brother-in-law showed him metal yard designs he had made and was selling at local craft fairs. Jacobsen had found his business idea.After training with his brother-in-law, Jacobsen returned to Colorado and set up shop for his new business named Country Shadows. Beginning part-time, Jacobsen started by making shadow cowboys that he sold to local ranchers. After a divorce and obtaining shared custody of his daughter, he wanted to work from home so he could spend as much time as possible with her. “Literally overnight I went from part-time to full-time,” said Jacobsen. Soon his lawn shadow ornaments were seen all over the county. He expanded his designs to include horses, wildlife, wagons, children and “shadow themes” such as the praying cowboy, kissing kids, southwestern and Native American scenes.Jacobsen sells his designs at craft fairs, consignment shops, farmers markets and directly from home. His daughter Tori, now 11 years old, works with her dad in all aspects of the business. Each year he adds new designs to his product line. Several of Jacobsen’s designs are suitable for indoor use as well. He makes letter and candleholders, as well as holiday designs that can be used anywhere in the home, and many can even be backlit.Pricing varies depending on size and difficulty to make. All of Jacobsen’s shadow art is handmade out of steel and then painted. He has sold his designs in 45 states and six countries. To view Jacobsen’s work, drive by his home on Partridge Lane (off Meridian) southeast of Falcon. He has several in his front yard and enjoys people stopping by to see his work. Almost all his neighbors have purchased yard art from him, too. With the holiday craft fair season just around the corner, Jacobsen and his daughter can be found at the fairs.Call Doug Jacobsen at 683-5208.
