Jason Funderburg runs Valhalla Iron Works out of his Post Falls garage in his spare time, but these days he’s simply grateful he has the strength to pick up his plasma cutter to create his artistic designs.

About three years ago Funderburg was diagnosed with throat cancer.

“I had a sore throat forever,” he said. “Being a typical man, I thought I could gut it out.”

When he began having trouble swallowing his wife made him go to an urgent care clinic. The doctor he saw said he thought it might be cancer and referred him to a specialist. It was.

Funderburg had radiation sessions five times a week for seven weeks.

“That was not fun,” he said. “They put a mask on your head and you can’t move.”

He also had several chemotherapy sessions over seven weeks, to which he had a bad reaction. He lost 100 pounds.

“I lost a lot of muscle mass,” Funderburg said. “I thought that was the worst part. But the recovery was even worse. I was super weak.”

Funderburg is now clear of cancer and has been in recovery for two years, although he still has issues swallowing. But while he was in treatment and in recovery, he couldn’t do his passion.

“I was out of the garage for like a year,” he said.

His desire to get back to his art gave him something to work toward.

“I love doing it, so it gave me the drive to get better so I could back into the garage,” he said. “All I wanted to do was be out there when I was able to again.”

His love of metal working goes back to when he took a welding class in high school in Bonners Ferry. He graduated from a one-year welding program at North Idaho College, then took a series of jobs with metal working companies in North Idaho and Spokane.

His first job was for Johnson Custom Iron in Post Falls, which makes iron handrails. Funderburg started putting artistic touches on them in his spare time and his boss was soon asking him to complete custom designs for his clients.

“I still do it,” Funderburg said. “He calls me all the time.”

Scott Johnson said Funderburg was one of his best employees.

“He’s an artist,” Johnson said. “He can draw really good and he’s really creative.”

When the recession hit and home construction stalled, Johnson was struggling to keep his business afloat and had to lay off several employees, including Funderburg. He said he was happy to hear that Funderburg had continued his work. Now he calls Funderburg when a client wants something that requires an artist’s touch.

“He kind of started his own gig,” Johnson said. “He loved doing silhouettes and cutouts and stuff. I would send all these jobs over to him that are more artistic.”

Funderburg typically does leaves, wildlife and other outdoor related carvings in metal. He’s done cutouts and engraving on things like old saw blades from local lumber mills. He recently made a fire pit out of a propane tank and his current project is carving trees and the outline of the state of Idaho on an old fire extinguisher.

He said it never occurred to him to sell any of his creations until someone suggested it.

“I started doing it as a hobby and was giving them to family and friends,” said Funderburg. “It never even crossed my mind. I thought if I could do it, everybody could do it.”

He started selling his art at craft fairs and some stores. He said Northwest Handmade in Sandpoint usually has some of his work. His Valhalla Iron Works Facebook page also has some items.

He’s created several large pieces, including a rainbow bridge piece for the dog park at McEuen Park in Coeur d’Alene. Funderburg was a stay-at-home dad for several years but recently took a full-time job as a technology teacher at Mullan Elementary School. That has made his art more part-time than it used to be.

“I really like doing bigger pieces, sometimes functional art,” he said.

“I do a lot of outdoor themed stuff. That’s kind of my niche.”

People give him old scrap metal they find and Funderburg said he also finds items at Hearn Iron Works. “I find all sorts of cool stuff there,” he said.

Leaning against the side of his garage is an old rusty saw blade that is nearly six feet in diameter. He’s had it for years, but still hasn’t decided what to do with it.

“I have no idea,” he said of the blade. “What I’ve been waiting for is for someone to make it a business sign.”

He said he’s willing to take on custom projects. “I’m always looking for a challenge,” he said.