From Metal to Masterpiece
Most artists choose traditional mediums for their artwork, like canvas, oils or clay. Robbie "Bear" Parson's choice is steel. That's right, cold hard metal is his canvas, and while not a typical art form, his vision and talent transforms raw metal into a masterpiece of beauty and power.
Bear's interest in working with metal came from his early years spent with his grandfather, Dalton Hively. Hively was the last blacksmith retired from Union Carbide before the company ended their need for the trade. Bear has followed in his footsteps: When he's not making custom choppers, he works as a high pressure tube welder as a member of Union Boilermakers Local 667.
Bear grew up in Elkview and learned the mechanics of motorcycles working on old Harley Davidson knuckleheads and panheads. Not content to just know the technical side of the machine, he taught himself how to do bodywork and painting then started building bikes in 1986.
His artistic bent took him from Herbert Hoover High School to the Art Institute of Atlanta. "Everybody thought I was so artistic, but when I got to Atlanta and saw all that talent, I knew I had a lot to learn. It was good to learn with other artists, because when you see the best, you strive to be better." he says. "I knew I had a God given talent, I just needed to find the right kind of canvas."
As a hobby, Bear began painting motorcycle gas tanks for friends. Soon he made a name for himself with custom paint jobs. He started building motorcycles and became in demand for his custom built bikes.
Coming of the Messiah
A fire at his garage led his friend Don Mason to offer him a work shop at his motorcycle shop, Mason's Haven. On display in the showroom is his first award winning chopper, the Metal Messiah. This gorgeous motorcycle won the Bike Builders Choice, Best Of Show Award at the All Star Chopper Show held in Ocean City, Maryland. The Metal Messiah beat out entries from Orange County Choppers and Milwaukee Iron and established Parsons as a contender in the highly competitive world of custom bikes.
When asked what inspired him to build the Messiah, he responds, "It was the classic battle of good versus evil. The bike provides several different weapons to use in the fight." The silver tank is decorated with a handled sword with ruby and onyx in the hilt, and the rear fender sports a jeweled stiletto. The tank sides have two four bladed medieval daggers on them, and the bike is completed with spikes and other weapon like details. His design evolved as he created the bike. He says, "It's all like a dream. As I'm building it, the bike tells me what it needs."
A Christmas Story
On Christmas Eve of 2005, builder Gale Hershberger stopped in at Mason's Haven. He and Don were old friends and rode Harleys together. Gale knew that Don also made honey and he wanted to get a jar for his wife as a Christmas gift. While there, he saw the Metal Messiah and fell in love with it. He bought the bike that night and offered to become Bear's business manager in his new venture, Temple of Steel Choppers. Since then, Hershberger has turned down offers of $100,000 plus for the chopper, which was featured in a centerfold in the motorcycle magazine, Rumble. You may ask, what about the Christmas gift for his wife? She liked the honey and the Messiah!
Heaven's Green Light
The three friends began meeting and brainstorming on a new concept chopper. The idea of a West Virginia themed motorcycle came to them and Bear started sketching, then building the frame. They took it with his sketches along with the Metal Messiah to the State Capitol for a meeting with Governor Joe Manchin. The governor, who rides a Harley, agreed with them that it would be a great promotional piece for the Department of Tourism and they were given the green light to proceed.
Over the past few months, I've visited the shop and watched the creation of the WV Custom Chopper, aptly christened, "Almost Heaven." From his preliminary sketches to the finished product, his attention to detail is amazing. Every inch of the bike, which stretches 12 feet, depicts something special and unique about West Virginia. The state seal is engraved in the wheels, inlaid with real gold. The air intake housing is a three dimensional sculpture of the state Capitol dome, accurately replicated with the actual gold used on the real dome. The trimming pieces, from the exhaust pipes to the clutch linkage, are all specially sculpted. One of the most fascinating details of the bike is the three dimensional coal miner that rises out of the rear fender. His pick ax is cutting into an actual diamond of West Virginia coal. The miner's helmet features a headlamp that functions as the taillight for the motorcycle. A gold plaque engraved with a dedication to the union mine workers completes the feature.
Almost Heaven was unveiled at a special ceremony on the Capitol steps by the governor on October 19 . After climbing on the bike, the governor took great pleasure in pointing out all the fine points of the Temple of Steel artistry. Lifelike renderings of Blackwater Falls and the Hawks Nest overlook grace the side panels. A rhododendron with a cardinal in its branches overlooks a black bear fishing for brook trout on the gas tank. The rear fender sports paintings of a parachutist with the New River Gorge Bridge and a scene of Seneca Rocks. The front fender has an oak leaf and a monarch butterfly. Even the new West Virginia quarter is mounted over the gas cap.
"We are just the caretakers of this machine.it really belongs to you, the people of West Virginia," Parsons said at the unveiling. "This is my gratification, for people to enjoy my art."
So what's next for the talented team at Temple of Steel? Well, there are 49 other states.
