When it comes to art Robin and Glenn Falkowski like to dig out a cutting torch and welder and get to work creating metal designs.
The couple operate on a acreage northwest of the city, although Robin is a relative newcomer to the area.
Robin is originally from Newfoundland, and moved to Manitoba in 1997.
“I was living in Manitoba and working in Northern Alberta in 2008, where I met my future husband Glenn on the job site in 2010,” she explained.
Robin is Red Seal Journeymen mobile crane operator and Glenn is a Red Seal Journeymen welder fabricator.
Glenn was born and raised in Yorkton, and owned the farm the couple are on today.
“I moved in with him in 2010 and that's pretty much where our story begins,” said Robin.
When you look at the couple's job descriptions it might not be a huge surprise that when they started creating, it was with metal.
“In our downtime from the construction industry, we started creating items using scrap metal,” said Robin. “It was around 2017 that I had asked Glenn to create something for me to hold my glasses, as well as some kind of a stand to hold open my cook books while in the kitchen.
“Glenn came up with the "Fork man" and "Spoon man" made from -- you guessed it -- forks and spoons.
“He created a couple more and I decided to try selling them at a outdoor farmers market that summer. It was a great hit, and from the response of the public, we saw there was an interest in unique items like this.
“Friends and family had asked us for various items to be created, so it kind of took off from there.
“Just like the Domino effect, once we got started it kept going.”
It helped that both Glenn and Robin discovered they are crafty minded people.
“Where someone would look at something like a turbocharger from a vehicle, we see a snail, or a starter from a motorcycle engine, we see a flower,” said Robin.
Like a good oiled machine, the couple work as a duo in creating the pieces.
“We work as a team when creating everything,” said Robin. “I don't do any of the welding, Glenn, being a welder for 30-plus years has the total responsibility of welding all the items together, and the fabricating comes from both of us.
“I'll lay out an creation and he'll tweak it.
“Once we get in the shop, and our minds start spinning, we start assembling an idea, and we feed off each other to come up with some pretty cool ideas -- like my favourite pieces - The Heavy Metal Band.
As it turns out pistons are a favourite item to turn into art.
“We were at a Bike Shop in Regina a few years ago, promoting a custom bar stool we had built and the owner had showed us a picture of a 'Piston Head', and Glenn tried his hand at carving his first skull and it took off from there,” said Robin.
Each Piston Head is hand carved and not one of their pieces are identical.
“Every single piece we create are different in someway,” offered Robin.
As for what to create, the metal often seems to speak to the couple.
“Our inspiration sometimes come from looking at the actual scrap metal,” said Robin. “Like a sculptor sees something in a rock, we see the same in scrap metal.
“We also get our inspiration from every day objects made from wood or plastic and then an idea will hit us that we could make something like it out of metal.”
Some of their efforts are more inspirational than artistic.
“Our most popular items we've sold to date would be the 'love' word made mostly from railway spikes and words spelled out of bolts like 'home sweet home' and 'she shed'.
Robin said for them it's just about making something special.
“We really enjoy creating very detailed pieces that bring life to each item,” she said.
“We do enjoy creating small items for a persons desk top, to the larger items like our custom built furniture.”
For example they currently have a chrome throne chair built from a motorcycle exhaust and a coffee table built from motorcycle parts, that Robin notes, “truly needs to be seen to fully appreciate the detail that went into making them.”
And then there is the 'guardian of the gate' that Robin said does garner a lot of attention too.
“Something that catches a lot of attention is the seven-foot tall robot that we have as a guard at a gate in our yard,” she said.
Robin said while social media has been great for sharing creations, she truly wishes people get to see them close up and in person.
“People look at and 'like' the pictures we post on Facebook, but honestly seeing a picture just isn't the same as seeing our items in person,” she said. “You can physically feel how heavy these things are, and see how some of the items actually move.”
As they get more art out in the world, more ideas and demands have come along too.
“We have been doing some local craft/trade shows over the last few years and the interest has been growing each show,” said Robin. “People are now asking us to do particular pieces for them, like house address numbers for example.
“Basically we tell people, if you have an idea, tell us about it, and if we have the metal, we can create it.
“Our next big project we have coming up is a custom made double size bed frame made from motorcycle exhaust parts.”
The couple's studio is open by appointment for anyone to head out and check things out in person.
You can find them on Facebook under G&R Custom Creations.
