One person's junk is Lynn Palmer's Scrap metal yard art

Lynn Palmer likes to work with her hands. Gardening, cooking and — welding.

- JAANA HATTON

Yes, those things are related. They are creative outlets, sparks of ideas that become real through her fingers.

It’s junk metal that really brings out Lynn’s enthusiasm.

“I am constantly seeing things that get the wheels turning; how can I repurpose that?” Lynn said about her passion for metal.

It all started with her recreational thrift shopping, finding uses for old stuff. After Lynn took a course in ornamental welding at the Wenatchee Valley College the next thing she knew she was opening up a yard art business.

She had learned how to mold new life into old scrap pieces.

“With the course, I became obsessed with metal art,” Lynn said.

LynnArt Gardens (302 N Miller St.) opened in the spring of 2020. “I got my business license on March 6,” owner Lynn Palmer said. “Then COVID hit.”

Amazingly, said Lynn, the new enterprise has flourished and is continuously growing its customer base.

Lynn’s license is a residential one, allowing five customers per day to visit the venue. Her home’s courtyard, patio, lawn and garage are all full of art for the yard — and indoors, too.

You may find tiny ladybugs painted on rocks, quilts made of wood, whimsical pottery and lots of metal sculptures. Many of the works are contributed by other artists whom Lynn has invited to sell their work at her venue.

It’s not unusual to find Lynn digging through junkyards and estate sales in search of material. Those would be rusty tools, parts broken off machinery, horseshoes — you name it, it’s all as precious as gold to her.