See this Okanagan metalworker turn scrap into art

Everyone knows the phrase one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, but a local Okanagan artist has taken it quite literally.

During his 45-year career as a millwright welder, Peter Bittroff had enough of creating stairs and railings, and instead wanted to turn his talents to more creative endeavours.

“When I first started, I started carving silver spoons into skull heads just in my carport with a little die grinder,” Bittroff told Kelowna10. “I had a friend of mine that's got a yard full of scrap, he was a scrap hoarder. And he just said, ‘Come by and see if you can use any’, and that's how it started.”

As he continued this newly found passion of turning scrap metal into ornate art, he realized that he would need a larger supply of scrap to use.

“I've probably in six years, gone over, I would say at least 12,000 utensils, just building stuff, flowers and birds, and stuff like that,” he said. “You use a lot of stuff.”

Bittroff has since reached out to multiple auto shops and metal fabricators who are more than happy to let him scrounge through their scrap for the perfect piece. It keeps his home studio fully stocked with bits and baubles for use in future projects.

Though his art is incredibly intricate, he never goes into a project with a complete outlined plan, instead, he comes up with an idea and just goes from there.

“I just have this feeling when I start to make something, I start from the bottom, and work up and up,” he explained. “It just comes really naturally, but every piece is so different to make. Sometimes I’ll look at my own work and think ‘How did I make that?’”

Bittroff displays all his works in his own home gallery, each shelf showcasing many meticulously created pieces.

“I'm so happy when people look at it and they just smile, they just go ‘wow’, you know?” he said.