Sculpture
I’ve only ever been commissioned once to create a sculpture. I took the idea of creating a statue of Yuri Gagarin, the great Soviet hero and first man in space, and Laika, the first living being to defy the clutch of gravity, to my friend Felix Dennis. He liked the idea and placed the finished bronze in his garden of Heroes and Villains. My work is set beside a great many other works by far more accomplished sculptors. It was an honour to be among them.
Yuri and Laika are nearing completion. The helmet was the tricky part; but as luck would have it I found a large polystyrene ball in a local shop a the foundation.
I celebrate at Yuri’s leaving party. Yuri took a long time to create but it was an enjoyable process; and I learned a lot. Yuri’s hands are mine you know! I cast them. Much easier than sculpting them. (I did try with no desirable results),
The sculpture had an iron skeleton which was covered in chicken wire. Over that I laid a plaster scrim . The details were done in either clay or Super Sculpy
Yuri leaps into the wagon that will take him to the foundry in Florence; accompanied by the ever faithful Leika. I visited the foundry several times to check on progress before the bronze was transported to Stratford-upon-Avon
Yuri’s leaving party. In the morning he will be off to the foundry near Florence.
Yuri and Leika, now in Felix Dennis’ Garden of Heroes and Villains. What a good man Felix was to give work to a great many sculptors.