MyBiz: Rocking out with heavy metal

CEDAR RAPIDS - Mel Schappert combines metal and rock to create custom yard art for his clientele.

The unique creations offer great utility, says Schappert, creator/business owner of Masterpiece Rocks & Masterpiece Metals LLC.

'They can't be destroyed by deer or rabbits, will never need watering and are in no danger of freezing in the Iowa winter,” he said, laughing.

Schappert, a former concrete contractor, started his business six years ago, along with his design partner, Lori Schoon.

A collection of leftover rocks pointed him in a new direction, he said.

'My late wife was quite the artist,” Schappert said, 'and she used to do a lot of painting on saw blades and rocks and I always watched and admired what she did.”

A couple of years after her death, he said he was left wondering what to do with all the rocks she had accumulated in their garage.

'One day I decided to try drilling holes in them and poked flowers into them and started setting them around my yard,” he said. 'People saw them and kept nudging me to sell them, even though I was just doing them for myself as a hobby.

'As a lot of hobbies do, they get out of control,” he said. He started going around to nurseries and selling his projects on consignment, and today supplies his art creations to nurseries in a three-state area. He just recently signed on a lavender farm and gift shop in the Council Bluffs area, he said.

His ultimate goal is to have art for sale in all four corners of the state.

Schappert purchases pallets of rocks locally. He uses a CNC plasma cutter when creating leaves out of aluminum or steel for his sculptures.

'I recently made a wine bottle tree for Lori,” he said. 'There were around 800 metal leaves on that tree and it stood six feet high.”

Schappert says the work is 'fun” and he enjoys working for himself.

'I might work 8 hours or 16 hours in a day - whatever it takes - to get a load ready for one of my customers,” he said. Being driven by the creative process doesn't bother him at all either.

'My mind is always going,” he added. 'I might wake up at 4 in the morning with an idea, and I know what I will be working on down at the shop when I get up for the day.”

At a Glance

Owner: Mel Schappert

Business: Masterpiece Rocks & Masterpiece Metals L.L.C.

Phone: (319) 533-3160

Website: www.masterpiecerocks.com

Know a company in business for more than a year that would make an ideal My Biz? Contact Francie Williamson at francie.williamson@thegazette.com