Paws up for scrap metal art

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Wildwood

If you drive or walk down Oakenwald Avenue in Wildwood, you might catch sight of doggy siblings Otto and Mo To looking the “peepholes” in their backyard fence.

Longtime Wildwood resident Brandt Klassen created holes using clutch discs from scrap machinery to give his pups a view of the neighborhood action. The pups usually go to their own holes properly labelled by name.

Klassen’s back and front yards are full of unique creations made with scrap metal. If he takes a liking to a piece of scrap it may bring on a brainwave and you will soon notice a new fantastical element in his yard. Many of Klassen’s works feature rusty steel enhanced with some colourful paint.

Photo by Dana Mohr

Otto and Mo To enjoy the ‘peepholes’ that owner Brandt Klassen has created for them in their fence.

Neighbourhood kids appreciate a robot named Bender who peaks over the fence with his eyeballs lit up in the evenings. In his work at an auto parts supply shop, Klassen saw a car combustion that looked like eyes in need of a head and body. He spent weeks working with that idea until Bender took his present form.

Getting back to the pups, Klassen describes Otto as a typical ball- and water-crazy yellow lab. Klassen enjoys a break from ball tossing when passersby play fetch with Otto through his fence peephole.

Klassen says Mo To is a low-key mystery mix who take sin everything through his hole. Klassen enjoys it when people approach and interact with the pups. Klassen says “all you see is happiness going on” when he looks from the house at wagging doggy tails.

Another of Klassen’s creations is a dog carrier for his motorcycle. The carrier resembles a vintage bomber as it flies around the city. Both Otto and Mo To can be seen (and heard) riding around town.

Klassen dismantled an old washing machine to create the carrier, cutting the drum into shape for the seat. He formed the carrier body out of the flat sheets of the washing machine.

Klassen’s front yard features a new, quirky item. This past winter, the grader blade of a street-cleaning vehicle broke off near his house. The four-foot blade lay there for months until he finally brought it home — and got a brainwave.

Otto and Mo To enjoy their role as welcoming party to a yard full of the eccentric creations that surround them, making for a strangely lovely and cohesive scrap wonderland.

Kirby GilmanWildwood community correspondent

Kirby Gilman is a community correspondent for Wildwood. Email her at [email protected]

Read full biography

Kirby GilmanWildwood community correspondent

Kirby Gilman is a community correspondent for Wildwood. Email her at [email protected]

Read full biography

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