{"id":206079,"date":"2025-12-23T01:59:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T01:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/206079\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T01:59:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T01:59:09","slug":"local-couple-repurposes-wrenches-and-car-jacks-into-imaginative-sculptures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/206079\/","title":{"rendered":"Local couple repurposes wrenches and car jacks into imaginative sculptures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Holly and Nate Burk have forged an intimate bond with steel.<\/p>\n

Five years back, the husband and wife team launched Spokane Folk Art & Copper Tones, a business which upcycles nails, railroad spikes and other metal objects into eclectic statuary. After stumbling upon a cyborg-ish Burk creation online, I met up with the Spokane Valley couple to chat about their unorthodox pieces which would be suitable for distinctive gifting or perhaps simply adding a bit of divergent, mechanical charm to an otherwise ordinary exterior home space.<\/p>\n

A motley gang of alloy animals with glowing eyes and claw rake ears greeted me when I arrived at the Burk residence. The animatronic crew appeared to have teleported into their alleyway pasture straight from a \u201cTerminator\u201d movie. If you\u2019re into cool hardware, these critters come fully equipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re saving the planet, one piece of art at a time,\u201d said Holly Burk.<\/p>\n

A connoisseur of nature, she educated herself in the finer details of jewelry and stained glass design, while husband Nate coached her on the basics of welding. Turtle planters and pet cremation pieces are two of her specialties.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can put your ashes under the pad of the paw,\u201d Holly said.<\/p>\n

A massive, moon-shaped figure she constructed from aged metal gears and washers sat perched against a fence behind us.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is meant to be outdoor art and so it compliments animals and gardens,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her works are rustic and expressive. In one photo Holly shared, a fairy with spindly fingers, humanoid eyes and wings crafted from wrenches appears to grasp at you from her potted dwelling.<\/p>\n

The Burks are scavengers of steel.<\/p>\n

They harvest items from estate sales or vintage farms in the North Idaho and Eastern Washington region. Pickaxes. Horseshoes. Entire pieces of farm machinery. An antique metal gas can and bicycle handlebars morphed into a horned cow. A vintage 1800s wheel now doubles as a table base.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like historical stuff,\u201d said Nate Burk. \u201cWe\u2019re turning them into something that\u2019s art and I like the idea that it\u2019s going to last a really, really long time, because it\u2019s metal.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\"This
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\nThis Spokane Folk Art & Copper Tones bigfoot figure was created from tractor tire chains, keys and hooks. The piece weighs in at about 300 pounds. (Courtesy of Spokane Folk Art & Copper Tones)<\/p>\n

A backyard work area overflowed with containers of screws, bolts and other mysterious scraps of steel. While rusted tire rims are a junkyard eyesore to many, this ingenious couple puts them to use as sturdy stands for their sculptures. In a fountain piece, the Burks used 53 shovels of different sizes to simulate the scales of a pinecone. A bionic horse galloped to life from multiple car jacks. Copper, brass and marble elements are often incorporated into figures as ornamental accents. The cost of each statue varies depending on the complexity of design, materials used and welding difficulty involved. Moving one of these steel beasts might require a forklift. \u201cBig Foot,\u201d created from tractor tire chains, keys and hooks, weighed in at about 300 pounds.<\/p>\n

Nate Burk\u2019s robotic cowboys and animal figures are outfitted with enough u-joints, coil springs and other high-tech metal appendages to garner a free round with the elitist of \u201cStar Wars\u201d cantina droids. A plumber by trade, he is always dragging home pipes and other scraps of steel from his day job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked with my dad when I was younger being an auto mechanic, so anything that was machine or moving parts \u2026 gears and chains all that stuff, I really appreciated,\u201d Burk said.<\/p>\n

A science fiction fan, his concepts are influenced by Swiss artist, H.R. Giger, who was a part of the visual design team that won an Academy Award for the 1979 horror film, \u201cAlien.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, Spokane Folk Art & Copper Tones was selected to participate in Coeur d\u2019Alene ArtCurrents, a program which leases and showcases works from local artists in an effort to assist with sales. The Burk\u2019s \u201cUnfurled Feathers\u201d piece is now on display at Third and Lakeside in downtown Coeur d\u2019Alene. The colorful peacock was created from steel, stained glass, labradorite stones with copper bezel and brass golf club head feathers. When they aren\u2019t busy welding, the Burks enjoy meeting and mingling with people at street fairs or local home and garden shows.<\/p>\n


\n\"This
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\nThis Spokane Folk Art & Copper Tones \u201cUnfurled Feathers\u201d piece was chosen for the Coeur d\u2019Alene ArtCurrents call in 2025. The figure was created with steel, stained glass, labradorite stones with copper bezel and brass golf club head feathers. It is currently on display at Third and Lakeside in downtown Coeur d\u2019Alene. (Courtesy of Spokane Folk Art & Copper Tones)<\/p>\n

Nate Burk shared a touching story.<\/p>\n

\u201cA mother and daughter said, \u2018Hey, we\u2019ve got all this metal. It\u2019s in our garage. Dad passed away. We don\u2019t know what to do with it. We\u2019d like you guys to have it.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

After picking up that load, the Burks welded a cowboy and dragonfly from the donated items and presented them to the two women as keepsakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what I look forward to with making sculptures is stuff like that \u2026 I\u2019m not really money motivated,\u201d said Nate Burk. \u201cWhen people come up and go, \u2018Oh, this is the coolest thing,\u2019 smile and are happy \u2026 that\u2019s fulfilling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cynthia Reugh can be reached at cynthia13048@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Holly and Nate Burk have forged an intimate bond with steel. Five years back, the husband and wife…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-206079","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}