He is out in his scrapyard. It has lots of metal, which he gets from a variety of places. Some people just bring him metal. He also finds metal at the scrapyard where he takes his metal cutoffs. While he’s there, he’ll prowl around, picking up cool metal scraps. Hopefully, he says, he comes out with a few more dollars than the exchange cost him.
Kevin starts walking around, looking at various pieces of metal. The first stop is some old plates, probably from the railroad, that would make good base plates.
Next he sees an old metal chain – Kevin made some snake sculptures with chain like that. He also pulls out a metal grate from his own fireplace that he removed to replace it with his fireplace sculpture Venezia.
A bunch of cutouts from a waterjet table or plasma table sit on a shelf. There are a lot of great shapes you can cut up and make into something else.
Says Kevin: “Don’t look at it for what it is, look at it for what it could be.”
Next he looks at some metal hoops that came off an old wooden barrel. Next to them are the metal tires off an old wooden wagon wheel.
Next Kevin shows some stairs from an old spiral staircase.
Then he comes across the hub from the old wooden wagon wheels. There’s another one nearby.
Then Kevin shows a drive axel off a front wheel drive car.
Then he shows two pieces of metal that have been bolted together and swivel.
So, in that quick trip through his scrapyard, did you see the peacock?!
Kevin shows how the wagon hub could be a body. The drive shaft, with some modification, can be the neck, head and beak.
Remember the steps from the spiral staircase? Tailfeathers!
You have to have legs, so Kevin pulls out an old chair frame made of 1/2″ rod. “It already has a knee bent in it,” he points out.
Those two pieces of metal that swivel? Feet! They’re a little big, but the peacock is going to be a big boy anyway.
So it’s almost complete! Kevin might need to put some wings on him, and he needs a topknot on his head. But Kevin bets he can find something in the yard that will work.
Kevin hopes this gives you a little somethng to think about. Or not think about! Let your mind off its leash. Let it run through the grassy fields of your mind. You won’t believe the things you can do.
Just let your imagination go.
Kevin is ready to go back to work, but you might want to wait another moment to see the other side of having your own scrapyard ….