Strange fishy sculptures made out of recycled stuff are popping up on the shoreline at Riversdale Beach in the Wairarapa. They're the work of country plumber Jeff Burnett.
Jeff Burnett with his art piece which helps guide boaties into the bay. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Jeff makes decorative crayfish out of old copper water cylinders.
He also weaves mini cray pots out of leftover electrician's wire and huge sculptural golf balls from offcuts of wood.
On the beach below his house in the coastal village of Riversdale, Jeff's metallic treasures swirl like schools of fish around the old lamp posts which help direct boaties into shore.
The plumber of nearly 50 years has found a passion for making outdoor works of art, most with a maritime theme and much of it upcycled from building waste.
He feels chuffed that people have been asking where the artist lives.
"Everything I make I fall in love with and then other people come and visit and say 'jeepers that looks alright'."
Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
The beach after a storm is a good place to find material for his work, like the old totara fence posts which float downstream and end up on the sand.
"By the time the sand and the sea wear them down, most of the artwork is done for you already," he says.
As a boy in Wellington, Jeff used to watch the old crayfishers weave their pots from cane and wire.
"I annoy a few electricians and get copper wire off them... and then I weave them up in the traditional way that the old fishermen used to in Island Bay."
He starts off his works with little more than a spark of an idea and, although he did art at school, he admits he can't draw to save his life.
"I never know what it's going to look like, but I do my best putting it together."
He says he does have the odd blooper, but he's spurred on by people who love what he makes.
"Just the positive feedback I've had from people saying 'oh that looks cool'."
Giant golf balls made of totara and old copper tanks made by artist plumber Jeff Burnett Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Like the sculptural navigation markers on the beach, a trio of pyramids in his garden bring functionality to his art.
They have been positioned to mark the longest and shortest days.
Jeff loves recycling and sees potential in things others regard as junk.
The shed where he works is a muddle of taps, pipes and hot water cylinders with a stack of cutout crayfish heaped on the side.
Jeff is currently working on a mobile sculpture that needs 20 crays so he's on the hunt for more cylinders to finish off the piece.
A slab of concrete unearthed on a recent job turned out to be an old knife sharpener.
"I saw the beauty in it and I put it on the top of a post," he says.
Jeff Burnett takes industrial junk and turns it into sculptures which decorate his coastal Wairarapa property Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
