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Leslieville welder turns railroad spikes into art

Aaron Knight says he “fell into” the new passion six months ago
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Aaron Knight uses his skills as a welder to turn railroad spikes into art pieces. Photo Submitted.

After working for years as a welder local Aaron Knight recently added a new title to his resume.

About six months ago Knight, who lives near Leslieville with his family, started creating metal art out of railroad spikes.

“I decided to build just for something fun to do then people really started liking them so I started building more and more,” said Knight in a phone interview.

His first piece was a railroad spike character called “Thinking Guy.”

From characters displaying a variety of emotions to iconic NHL moments like Bobby Orr flying through the air the ideas and inspiration has flowed.

Everything Knight creates is made out of railroad spikes, including the hardware in the furniture pieces he is working on.

“It’s just something I learned to work with and that’s what I keep on working with,” explained Knight, “… then we got our company underneath RailRustic so I like to keep to the theme of railroad spikes.”

Currently, he is working on a piece where NHL players are holding up the Stanley Cup.

Aside from his own inspirations people are able to submit requests as his next venture is try to bring people’s personal photos to life.

“I’ve taken a picture of my son playing hockey and then I just replicated that,” explained Knight.

Knight’s art works have found themselves in shops and galleries, including Neighbours by the Lake in Sylvan Lake.

He will also be taking his art to be featured in a major market in Calgary in the fall.

“This is one of the last things I thought I’d be doing in my life,” laughed Knight. “I just kind of fell into it.”

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