Creativity Blooms in Ryan Parsons' Unique Garden Sculptures

When it comes to the art of Ryan Parsons, one man’s trash really is another man’s treasure. Where we may see old tools, discarded motor pieces and random cogs, Ryan sees creatures, sculptures, and unique furniture pieces.

Words by Anita Butterworth & Photos by Doug Pell

With his background in landscape gardening the Trafalgar-based artist creates garden sculptures reimagined from steel and metal – and the results are whimsical, playful and curious creatures and pieces that adorn gardens all over the state.

“I was actually a landscape contractor by trade for just on 20 years,” Ryan explains. “And then a good friend that worked for me at the time got me into doing it because we used to do little bits and pieces for people’s gardens and doing a lot of maintenance on our own equipment and so forth.

“He used to work for a rose grower and used to go around Melbourne, all the cafes all the markets and he came to me one day and said, ‘Why don’t we do some garden art while it’s quiet?’. And it all went from there.”

Ryan has a keen eye for knowing exactly what to create from the steel pieces he finds. Pruning shears transform into the backrest of a garden bench, spanners become the top of a coffee table, shoe horses form a sculptural seat and a Singer sewing machine becomes a tractor, complete with a bent spoon seat.

“It’s collecting a lot of recycled items; motorbike chains, plough discs, anything that’s metal and turning that into garden art. I use cutlery which I turn into roses and flowers, all sorts of things. I use timber in garden seat benches.

“I tend to do a lot of real animals. What I tend to find is that I work with personality. For example, I’ve got a few little Jack Russells. My little Jack Russell when I grew up, he would always walk around with a bone or a stick in his mouth.

“So, what I would do is actually put a spanner basically welded to its mouth. And then I’d sit it up, so that when people look at it, they can see that bit of personality, that’s where I create it from.”

Ryan’s work is known as ‘found art’, and his keen eye usually creates the piece in his mind just by looking at a discarded metal.

“Some artists see it as a drawn image, or they can draw an image for it. I actually see the piece and I can shape it in, or I can see a form shape to it. I’ve had to collect so many items because sometimes you can find part of the item, and then you go shopping in your supplies for something to finish it off.

“As time’s gone on, I started to find a bit of a style that I like doing, which is well-finished and neat. Not a lot of rusty items as such. If they are rusty, they’re cleaned up and then clear coated, so they don’t rust.”

While he no longer works fulltime as a landscaper, Ryan says it gave him the perfect grounding for understanding what sculptural pieces work well in a garden setting.

“I had a very creative mind, I guess. I was always building things – I always wanted to be a builder originally and then that’s sort of where the idea came from. To be able to build and construct. I think having that landscape background, and slowing down from the landscaping, that’s kept me with the creativity. I do a few landscape jobs here and there, not much, but it still keeps the creative juices flowing.

“I found that I already had a good idea of what people would like, what works well with a garden. The idea with found art is to be able to identify what the item is. It’s not just made out of a piece of steel and shaped. That was where the creativity came from was the landscape side of it.”

Ryan also creates custom artwork, including special pieces in memory of loved ones.

“Quite a few of the orders I do are sentimental items as well. At the moment I’ve got somebody’s father’s tools that I’m going to make some sentimental items out of. It adds a different element to what I do.

“I ask them what they would like to create and then I work with them to create what they need. I find them a little bit of a challenge. A lot of creativity, I guess. Because what I have found over time is my artwork is very individual. Every item’s a little bit different to the next. It’s a good challenge.”

While Ryan is working towards having his own exhibition and shop space, in the meantime you can find him and his pieces at local markets, as well as art shows. He’s a frequent exhibitor at the Toorak Sculpture Exhibition, the Tyers Art Festival and the Erica Country Expo, as well as local field days.

Ryan can be contacted for custom pieces via his Facebook page, Custom Creations by Ryan Parsons or via email: createbyryan@gmail.com