TOLEDO — When most of us look at an old shovel, that’s what we see — an old shovel. When Ron and Victoria Smith look at a pile of old, rusty junk, they see all sorts of potential characters.
There’s Willie the wine-drinking cowboy, Heidi and Hank, Jack and Jill, Frizz the cat, and Rusty the dog, to name a few.
“Rusty does tricks,” claims Ron. “See, he’ll lift his ear, he plays dead, he stays forever, he sets up and he’s house broke.”
The little dachshund’s body is a long, narrow spring, his ears resemble hinges and his feet are the top end of railroad spikes. Rusty is just one of many yard art pieces created by the Smiths out of various objects most would consider junk.
“We don’t use anything new,” says Ron. “Rebar is about the only thing we buy.”
The head of a shovel, depending upon its shape, might be combined with horseshoes to become — you guessed it — a horseshoe crab; it might serve as a skirt for Jill or Heidi; or perhaps it would be better as a bird feeder. There are roosters that bob their heads and show off flashy tail feathers made from rakes or horseshoes. There are garden trellises made from potato or pitch forks. It all just depends.
“A lot of time it’s based on what’s in stock,” says Victoria.
The couple moved to Toledo about a year ago from Ellensburg, where they raised horses for 21 years. They started their Recycled Ranch Relics business about eight or nine years ago as a hobby after Ron’s retirement.
“I just wasn’t ready for a rocking chair,” he said. “I do a lot of it for fun.”
The couple work from the garage of their Toledo home, spending about two to four hours a day on their art. Victoria has a workbench that houses her chop saw, and Ron has a bench across the garage where he does the welding. He’s got another work station that houses a plasma cutter.
Victoria, who is a professional horse trainer and an accomplished artist, designs most of the pieces. She doesn’t sketch them out ahead of time on paper, but pulls parts from what’s in stock and lays them out on a central work table, cutting pieces down on her chop saw as needed.
“She’s an artist. This sorta fills that need to create,” says Ron.
When the design is done, Ron welds the pieces together. He can usually do about a third of a piece on his own, and Victoria will help hold the rest of the pieces in place. The Smiths have it down to a system. It takes about 10 minutes to cut the pieces for a crab, and about 20 minutes to weld it all together.
One of the challenges comes from welding different types of metal together. Victoria recalls a time when Ron was making a Corgi dog for someone, which contained lots of different pieces and several different metals.
“There was a lot of bad language zippin’ around here when he had to weld that one,” she said.
The couple take the pieces on the road to bigger shows about five or six times a year. Ron estimates about 60 to 70 percent of their business is wholesale. When he does a show, he can cram the back of his truck full with as many as 60 pieces. Most of the time he’ll drop some off at his wholesale customers along the way.
His creations have found their way to at least 38 states, have been purchased by celebrities in the country music business, and have even been taken to other countries.
“I did one of three ladies at a table playing bridge,” says Ron. “That one is in Brazil.”
Still another of his creations has been featured in other newspapers and even on the Public Broadcasting Service television series “The Red Green Show.” Ron calls it a redneck riding lawn mower, which is essentially a bicycle with an old-fashioned push mower in place of the front wheel. Victoria is quick to point out she had nothing to do with another of Ron’s creations, called the “Redneck Beer Garden,” which is basically a mobile made with empty beer cans.
The couple’s sense of humor is evident in a lot of their yard creations. Their first piece, for instance, is named Chastity, and appropriately enough, features a strategically placed padlock.
“People say our pieces have personality,” says Victoria. “They make people laugh. We don’t make mean or dark pieces.”
“Our dragons aren’t fire eaters,” agrees Ron. “They’re happy dragons.”
Ron says his favorite part of the process is making a piece for the first time, because it’s something new and different. Victoria says she likes to make anything to do with cats. The couple, married 30 years, say they do this for fun, not to making a living.
“So many people want us to make this a big business,” says Victoria. “But this is just a little home hobby.”
“This is just to keep me off the streets and out of the bars,” jokes Ron.
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