Stego Parker: Meet the Yorkshire artist who is the master of heavy metal

Car parts, from wheels to bicycle bits and all manner of metal including excavator tracking chain and reinforcing bars with a natural patina previously used for concrete have been de-constructed and re-created into functional, practical pieces or eye-catching public works of art.

Braziers hand-crafted from truck wheels and fire pits are among the most popular commissions Stego has produced since turning his passion into a purposeful pastime.

Creative Metal Salvage is the culmination of one man’s imagination combined with four years of study through a National Diploma and HND course to make sense of all the ideas Stego has meticulously detailed with drawings and jottings in a series of notebooks he has carried with him for years – and keeps adding to as more inspiration comes to mind.

“It changes everything when you are taught. We had to use a design strategy, do research and we had to do a lot of drawings,” says Stego, referring to his studies. Absorbed by the natural environment, Stego’s 20ft square workshop on a rural estate near Ripon, North Yorkshire, is surrounded by woodland, a walled garden and beautiful countryside providing him with instant inspiration for his craft which began transforming plough parts.

His love of farming and working outdoors was inherited from his maternal grandfather who ran an olive plantation in his mum’s native Pathos in Cyprus.

“I enjoy tractors and being on the land, working outside,” says Stego, who has worked on farms since leaving school. His enthusiasm to create was encouraged as a child. “When we were children we were encouraged to make things out of cardboard boxes and use domestic rubbish.”

Bogeys and go-carts were among Stego’s earlier purposeful productions. “My strength is my imagination.” It was a friend’s encouragement that prompted him to specialise in metalwork at York Tech and his studies unlocked his imagination and he has been exploring it ever since setting up Creative Metal Salvage in 1994.

“You get submersed in it. The creativity is in the back of your head and it opens it up,” he says. His first commission was transforming plough parts for a customer into a 9ft ‘Beast of the North.’

“A farmer gave me the workshop space - sometimes you need a patron in life, someone to help you on your journey,” says Stego. His second commission came from a customer spotting the sculpture while on a walk. This led to a 2m long dolphin, again crafted from plough parts, for an engineering company.

“It’s my passion in life and I am driven by my passion. It’s experimenting and making things. People see it and they want to buy it and it’s a lovely thing to make and to sell.”

Another eye-catching creation was a steel steed with hinged joints Stego was commissioned to make in memory of the late Henry Clarke who rode racehorses and competed in point-to-point.

The scrap metal sculpture was designed to straddle the dry stone wall above Mr Clarke’s final resting place at Low Swainby Farm, Pickhill. By that time Stego had moved to his current workshop where, despite its size, he was able to create the intricate sculpture in the confined space. “It is a very tall structure and it was made in a way that it is moveable and portable,” he explains.

The equine world features heavily in Stego’s work. A 6ft sphere created from 680 front leg shoes from a local racing yard in Middleham flanks the workshop frontage. A 4ft version, one of 50 horseshoe spheres Stego has created so far, is a moveable piece, like many of Stego’s creations, that can be rolled into place.

The metal, dampened by the previous day’s downpour, is illuminated by sunlight slicing through the surrounding trees. Picking up the handmade tooling he created, from parts, to make the spheres, Stego demonstrates the intricate process on the workbench – one of two hand-made work stations making use of this intriguing space where industrial drawers hold taps, metal knobs and many other ‘treasures’ of his trade.

“It’s like a bit of gold, a diamond,” he says. His other work station, on which he balances the globe structure he created from bicycle parts, disc brake rotors and cassettes acquired through a friend who repairs bikes, is fashioned from an old drum with a circular steel top. “You have to make the parts yourself. At college we were encouraged to make our own tools.

The nearby plasma cutter uses a combination of electricity and compressed air for precision part cutting. Metal fabrication creates sparks to fire the imagination which Stego brings to life through his creative use of off-cuts and parts sourced through his farm work.

“An engineering mind is a curious mind. I really enjoy using things that have had a previous life.” Demonstrating his artistry, he holds a car wheel clutch plate and explains how when welded together with an agricultural bearing it will be transformed into something new.

Ideas are the driving force for his talent in this creative space where objects of finely and intricately engineered metal previously hidden through a past purpose of running and turning machines and automotive parts are now beautifully exposed and ready to buy from his website or local and regional markets.

Ornate metal climbing frames for plants and a bench made from salvaged agricultural timbers and tracking chains are among the functional and decorative garden adornments.

Fascinating creatures also form part of his impressive collection. A metal box with dangly metal limbs perches on a shelf watching the metal master at work while a dragon, artistically manipulated from agricultural parts and coil springs, demonstrates Stego’s love of mystical characters.

Inspired by his love of Mad Max and Sci Fi films, he created a mythical creature while working freelance for a street theatre company along with a brazier bucket on three legs for a Medieval style banquet.

Fire and light are integral to his artistry. Braziers with spit roasters made from metal off-cuts, chimineas and fire pits are among his favourite creations which he also hires out for celebrations and special occasions.

Larger productions, such as the 9ft high woodburner created from truck parts, prop shafts and exhausts, was made in 14 parts to enable it to be dismantled and re-assembled for transportation. Woodburners and fire pits are proving popular for outdoor cooking – according to Stego.

Making the most of his imagination is his life’s work and, at 62, he has no intention of stopping.

“I always say there are three reasons why I am on this planet. One is to re-produce – I have a son and daughter and they are amazing; the second is to enrich peoples’ lives which I do with this, (he says referring to his art) and three is teaching, passing on skills, facilitating and encouraging.”