PETER Peacock and his mate Penelopy Peahen recently became parents, welcoming three healthy peachicks to their family. Artist Sandra Webberking gave birth to the flock in her Springfield, Pa., studio. “The babies are my absolute favorite,” says Ms. Webberking of her newest metal sculptures. “They interact more than the mother and father, they’re really sweet.”

   A scavenged blade guard from a sickle bar mower had inspired the creation of Peter, as Ms. Webberking transformed the piece into a bird beak. She curved plumbing pipe to form Peter’s long neck and cut apart a propane tank for his plump, round body. Gave him skinny rebar legs and accented his crest and tail feathers with brilliant glass marbles. Once Ms. Webberking rusted the steel bird into a warm, golden brown, Peter was ready to spread his plumage and woo a lady.

   From the other half of the sickle guard from which Peter came to life, Ms. Webberking created Penelopy. The symbolic act brings to mind the biblical story of how God made Eve from Adam’s rib. In fact, it upsets Ms. Webberking when people don’t purchase the peacocks as a pair. Thankfully, the whole brood will travel to Hamilton for the artist’s metalwork exhibit, on view at Ground For Sculpture’s Toad Hall Shop and Gallery July 11 through Sept. 27.

   Aside from peacocks and other whimsical creatures, Ms. Webberking will display works like lit flowers and candelabras. She’ll bring an 8-by-4-foot piece that illustrates a Chinese riddle from Ed Young’s book High on a Hill. A squirrel, fish and cat reside within the panel-like artwork, which Ms. Webberking created for a 2003 project with (no name) Art Group. The creative bunch of individuals donates all exhibition proceeds to charities, this particular project benefiting a nonprofit children’s literacy program.

   Metal is a malleable material, but Ms. Webberking says the trick is finding a way to shape it in a smooth set of lines. The artist strives to emulate and build upon the spirals and fluid lines found within nature, one of her most profound sources of inspiration. In particular, she looks to the rhythm and lines of trees and branches. One’s eye naturally follows their form, and Ms. Webberking tries to create that same sense of movement in her artwork. “I always try and keep somebody’s eye moving around the piece,” she says. “I’m always thinking of where I’ll go next and how do I get them to keep coming back and walk around.”

   With the help of an exhaust pipe bender, Ms. Webberking can shape organic lines like the neck of Peter Peacock, the stem of a sunflower or the arms of candelabra. Her father, a former breaks mechanic, passed on this large piece of hydraulic equipment to his daughter after selling his business. “When he gave it to me, I thought, ‘I’ll never use this thing,’” Ms. Webberking recalls. “Now I can’t imagine life without it.”

   The new tool allowed Ms. Webberking’s body of work to evolve. “I’ve adopted ways of using it that aren’t legal in my dad’s opinion,” she adds, laughing. Other tools she utilizes include a mig welder, handheld grinder and plasma cutter.

   A firm believer in preserving natural resources, Ms. Webberking uses recycled materials whenever possible. In doing so, she hopes to prove that the act of reusing is not only environmentally friendly but also fun, beautiful and enriching. “It’s nice to try and tell people they can take things that are used and make them into beautiful things, they don’t have to throw everything out,” Ms. Webberking says. “Everything’s just too disposable.”

   The artist enjoys the process of finding metal almost as much as making the sculpture. She can spend hours searching through piles of old Amish farm equipment, finding that the pieces already have interesting shapes that lend themselves to her organic creatures.

   Ms. Webberking discovered metalwork while a student at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, where she received a bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture. After experimenting with many different mediums, she found a kinship with the process of bending, heating, hammering and welding that working with metal entails. Ms. Webberking attributes her inclination toward the art form with watching her dad’s handiwork growing up. “My dad would never call himself creative but he’s definitely innovative and would always be making the tools he needed,” she says. “He built our house and my whole life I saw him make and build everything... there wasn’t anything he couldn’t fix.”

   Ms. Webberking’s recent public art commissions include a large metal gate installed at the New Kensington (Phila.) Garden Center, which offers low-cost plants and free compost, mulch, gardening/horticultural workshops and seasonal festivities for community members. The New Kensington Community Development Corporation opened the center in 1997 as part of its land use management program. Ms. Webberking juxtaposed the gate’s straight-lined framework with winding, vine-like curves. A fish also found its way into the design, as did the letters G and C for the Garden Center.

   On a recent evening, Ms. Webberking stopped by to photograph the gate to see how it looked illuminated (there are flower-shaped lighting fixtures across the top). A passerby commented how beautiful it was, not knowing Ms. Webberking made the gate. “She said, ‘You know, this gives me such pride in my community,’” Ms. Webberking recounts. “That’s what I hoped for.”

The metalwork of Sandra Webberking will be on view at Grounds For Sculpture’s Toad Hall Shop and Gallery, 14 Fairgrounds Road, Hamilton, July 11-Sept. 27. A public reception will be held July 10, 5-7 p.m. Gallery hours: Tues.-Sun. 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. 609-586-2366; www.groundsforsculpture.org; www.sandrawebberking.com