Big Peanut artist Kane Minogue tells his story

Kane Minogue quit his fabrication job on a whim a decade ago to pursue his dream of welding unique sculptures from home, and while things were tough for a period, he's made it into a popular business.

"It all came around by accident. I was working for a fella in town and I went through the scrap bin and made this very average thing because I'd never made one before, and my dad said, 'You'll never sell that, you're wasting your bloody time'," Kane laughed.

"So I put it on buy, swap and sell and sold it for $450.

"I quit my job and lived off sangas and two-minute noodles for four-and-half-years and here I am now doing it on a big scale all around the country.

"I've had two billionaire customers so far, but I charge what I'm worth. I don't rip anyone off. I'm a blue collar bloke."

Owner of scrap metal art business Studio 303, Minogue lives and works off-grid, using just a grinder, welder, generator and a few hand tools to craft his pieces in his workshop.

He started out welding steel animals for private clients, and as word of his art spread, he began building a variety of pieces and has been commissioned for public works.

While he doesn't consider himself 'artsy', the bloke is certainly in demand for his artistic ability, with councils and companies wanting his work.

Minogue went on to sculpt a commission piece for Shellharbour City Council, which was installed at Reddall Reserve, south of Wollongong, in December 2020.

The artwork is a four-metre high sculpture piece that depicts a variety of local marine life swimming up and around a ring of seaweed.

One of his most recent accomplishments was building Kingaroy's Big Peanut, which had been talked about for 50 years but never realised - until November.

Initially, the Big Peanut committee contacted one of Australia's best known scrap metal artists, Andrew Whitehead, to see if he could sculpt the piece.

However, Whitehead directed them to Minogue because he was a lot closer and knew he'd "do it justice".

"They're so passionate. They're the ones that made it happen and I'm stoked to be chosen to do it for them and hopefully it's well-received," Minogue said.

The peanut committee organised for old machinery parts from the South Burnett to be sent to him and he used new 2.5mm mild steel pipe for the framework for structural integrity.

The peanut, which weighs 450kg and sits 3.4m tall and 1.2m wide, took him three months of full time work to complete.

"I had to clean all the impurities out of the parts so I could weld them, so there's a lot of mucking around getting rid of oil and grease."

Minogue wasn't able to travel to Kingaroy for the unofficial unveiling in November, but he was able to tune into the livestream.

"I know the passion that these people have, so it was pretty surreal. It was really good. I really loved it."

He said working for rural customers in rural towns is a bit more special for him, but the pressure's also on to do a good job, because if they don't connect with the art, they'd rather their money go somewhere else.

"That's why you need to bring me down the pieces from the cockies and the locals so that we can connect them with it," he said.

"You've got to connect to the people. It's got to tell a story and they've got to identify with the story, otherwise it's just another piece of art that people don't like."

"It's become a little bit trendy too which is great because creativity really takes your mind to another place. You leave your daily stresses behind."

With money and labour coming from a GoFundMe campaign, council and businesses, the committee and volunteers met in Lions Park near the heart of town to install the structure on November 4.

Minogue is hoping his next big job is for a large property group which is developing a new housing estate in Wollongong.

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