CAMANO ISLAND — Take another look at that old bicycle seat you’re throwing in the trash.

The next time you see it, you may not recognize it — especially if the self-proclaimed goddess of metal art wraps her creative hands around it.

Yes, for the goddess and metal artist Debbi Rhodes, other people’s trash is indeed her treasure.

Standing in the yard of her Camano Island home and workshop, Rhodes examined the body of one of her large yard sculptures, “Spring Chicken,” pieced together from old metal parts dumped off at the Camano Island Transfer Station where she works as a solid-waste technician.

The head of “Spring Chicken” is fashioned from a concrete mold, a microphone horn from an industrial shop of some kind, doorknobs for the eyes, bedsprings for the hair. The legs are bicycle forks filled in with the spikes of garden rakes. The rest of the body is a conglomeration of a bicycle seat, two halves of a pitchfork, a large air filter and more garden rakes for the tail.

Rhodes considers her works the ultimate in recycling.

“There’s another life that these pieces have to lead,” she said. “I reincarnate it.”

Rhodes’ whimsical yard sculptures are just some of the variety of art that will be display during the Camano Art Association’s 10th annual Camano Island Studio Tour on Mother’s Day weekend, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 9-10, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 11, at 32 studios around Camano Island and Stanwood.

Between 3,500 and 4,000 people are expected to visit this year’s tour to view and buy an array of paintings, jewelry, glassworks, woodworks, sculptures, textile art, photography and more. Some of the well-known artists include Jack Gunter, Jack Dorsey, Dotti Burton, John Muhler, Kevin Pattelle, Liz Hamlin and Molly Lemaster.

Visitors are treated to demonstrations by the artists and a chance to meet them and ask questions, said Rosanne Cohn, marketing director for the tour.

Organizers expect a robust turnout, despite record high gas prices and a sluggish economy, Cohn said.

“Everything that’s going on with the economy doesn’t seem to affect us,” Cohn said. “Come Mother’s Day weekend, people say ‘The hell with it, we’re going out and we’re going to have a good time.’”

The tour has become one of the most popular north of Edmonds for a number of reasons, Cohn said. One, of course, is the beautiful island setting, she said. Another is the affordability of the art. Some pieces sell for as little as $50, while others go for thousands of dollars, Cohn said.

Paintings and sculptures are always favorites for collectors, she said. But an increasing number of people are interested in yard art.

Rhodes’ “green” yard art — created using recycled materials — has a special appeal for some collectors, Cohn said.

“People are just loving it,” Cohn said. “A little humor, especially for your garden, is a good thing.”

Rhodes, 43, has been creating and selling her metal yard art for about 10 years, using skills she perfected while working as a metal fabricator.

Rhodes has nurtured a passion for working with her hands and building since she was a high school student in Santa Barbara, Calif. She originally intended to become an architect, but became disillusioned in college, and decided on another path.

She moved to Illinois, and took a job as a baker.

While working as a baker in 1992, a friend’s sister who was recruiting people into nontraditional jobs convinced Rhodes to try welding. Rhodes was drawn to the idea, and landed a job repairing barges for one of the largest inland waterway repair facilities on the Mississippi River.

She was hired as a welder, but soon found a welcome niche as a metal fabricator — a much more satisfying job, Rhodes said.

Although metal fabrication is a male-dominated industry, Rhodes said she never had trouble getting a job.

“Women in the fabrication industry are better suited to the work,” she said. “We’re more detail-oriented than men. We’re more trainable, versus men who are a little more apt to want to think it for themselves.”

After she was laid off from her job, she spent the next few years in a series of moves, from Michigan to Ohio, then to Texas and finally to Anacortes in 1997. During those years she continued to refine her skills as a metal fabricator and worked other jobs, too, including making furniture, remodeling houses and welding.

After moving to Skagit County, Rhodes landed a job, first working for Whitfield Stoves and then at EDCO, a custom fabrication business, where she worked for 10 years. In the meantime, she had moved from Anacortes to Camano Island.

She took her skills to a new artistic level when her mother, a friend of Camano Island artist Jack Gunter, suggested that she help Gunter with one of his projects. The partnership was successful, and spurred her to begin experimenting with small sculptures and art pieces.

First, it was building tables, a stainless steel armchair and foot stool. Then it was picking up seemingly useless items — sometimes discarded on the side of the road — and fitting them into sculptures.

“I’m constantly looking at how to utilize things for other than what they were intended,” she said.

Suddenly, she couldn’t stop.

When she saw the job position open up at the Camano Island Transfer Station in May 2007, she jumped at the chance. The job would be closer to home and would allow her more time to work on her art.

As an added benefit, it also provided her with tons (literally) of discarded materials that could be transformed into shining sculptures.

Rhodes said she uses only broken items for her work. Anything in one piece that could be given away is put aside.

She’s primarily attracted by items with unusual shapes. One piece can lead to an idea for an entire sculpture.

As she became more proficient, she began selling her artwork at the studio tour, an art show in Snohomish County sponsored by the Snohomish Arts Council, and at several regional galleries.

Her works attract a variety of customers — wealthy, not-so-wealthy, old and young. But most of them, she said, have a sense of humor and a passion for the outdoors and their yards.

But selling her art isn’t that important, she said.

“Even if nobody were to buy them, I’d still be making them,” she said. “When you’re passionate about things you enjoy, you just can’t not do it.”

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Want to go?

* What: Camano Arts Association’s 10th annual Camano Island Studio Tour of 32 studios and art galleries featuring 58 artists.

* When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, May 9-10, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 11, Mother’s Day weekend.

* Where: At galleries and studios around Camano Island and Stanwood.

* Information: www.camanoarts.org.

• Beverly Crichfield can be reached at 360-416-2135 or .