The Journey - My Sculpture Life
It all began with a simple question.
Upon returning home from work one day a few years back, I pulled April aside and asked, "Wouldn't it be cool to build an American Bald Eagle out of stainless steel?" I didn't know what to expect for a response, but her answer was, "Do it." I looked at her and thought, "Oh, I'm screwed now."
The decision to focus on Bald Eagles came from a lifelong fascination with the raptors that control the open sky.
While I have a background in fabrication and welding, I had no artistic training and, therefore, never considered myself to be an artist. So, I began by researching all the information I could get my hands on about American Bald Eagles. First, learning the differences in size, weight, wingspan, etc. between males and females. I knew that building lifesize sculpture would require knowledge I didn't have. I needed to know things such as the average length of the different feathers, how long their talons are, differences in beak length between males and females. Once satisfied with the newly acquired knowledge, I could begin work on a plan to build my first sculpture.
My first piece was to be a full-scale female American Bald Eagle soaring. In my mind, the work already had a title; her name would be Majestic.
A quick run to Target to purchase some construction paper, and I would begin building the template for my first artistic rendering.
Majestic would have a 93" wingspan, so there were many feathers to cut to both length and width. The plan was to cut and layout one entire wing, including each layer of feathers top and bottom, up to the leading edge of her wing. Then I would have a sense of the amount of material needed to build a full-scale female American Bald Eagle.
The island in the kitchen was big enough for the project, and the cutting commenced. After laying out one wing and the two-dimensional body feathers, I was able to calculate the number of feathers needed to cover the wings, both top, and bottom along with the body. I now knew the amount of material required to begin building the stainless steel sculpture.
My very first artistic rendering would consist of approximately 1,400 feathers from tail to beak. There would also be a variety of both round and square stock required to fabricate the Bald Eagle.
Now, it was time to start researching where to purchase the stainless steel material required to begin creating my vision.