While at design school, Dambo saw potential in trash as the raw material for his art projects, especially construction trash. His first major project, called "Happy City Birds," featured 73 birdhouses and a bird feeder hung on a plywood tree, all made from scraps of plywood. Since "Happy City Birds," Dambo has built over 3,000 birdhouses word wide.
Dambo loved fairytales as a child and enjoyed creating his own stories of magic and fantastic creatures. Giant trolls made their way into his art beginning with seven trolls built in Boom, Belgium. In April 2023, Dambo published Trash, Trolls, and Treasure Hunts, the story of his first 100 trolls.
Hainesport's Big Rusty is the first in a series of 10 trolls built in the United States during the summer of 2023. The others are located in Vermont, Michigan, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington State.
