Tolley Marney - Raptor on Roses
Artist:
Year:
2023
Title of Piece: Fidelity
Medium: Reclaimed steel, reclaimed antique wood, resin.
Dimensions: Size: 60” wingspan, 48” long, 28” tall, approx 160 lbs. Style and Technique: My style is stylized realism. I developed my style because I do not make models or sketches of my sculptures. I begin working directly in the steel with an idea in my head. I heat pieces of old horseshoes, bars and other steel scraps in my forge until they are red hot. I remove the red hot piece with blacksmithing tongs, then hold it over my anvil and hammer it into shape with my free hand. I have to be quick and get as much shape out of my steel as I can before it cools and becomes less malleable. I usually start with the head of the being I’m sculpting. Then I work to the next part of the body. And so on, and so on. In this piece, Raptor on Roses, I inlayed pieces of antique wood I reclaimed from old furniture. I glued in chunks of wood that show on both sides of the sculpture. When the glue dried, I used an electric grinder to carefully grind off the extra wood until the shape of my eagle was done. I filled in the gaps with a environmentally safe resin I tinted with brown and black paint. After the resin dried, I ground and sanded the surface until the resin only shows in the cracks between chunks of wood. I then made about two dozen steel rose flowers and welded them to an overlay of steel scraps, keeping in mind a bed of roses over brambles. Then, I carefully balanced my 150 lb. sculpture on the bed of roses and welded it securely.
Medium: Reclaimed steel, reclaimed antique wood, resin.
Dimensions: Size: 60” wingspan, 48” long, 28” tall, approx 160 lbs. Style and Technique: My style is stylized realism. I developed my style because I do not make models or sketches of my sculptures. I begin working directly in the steel with an idea in my head. I heat pieces of old horseshoes, bars and other steel scraps in my forge until they are red hot. I remove the red hot piece with blacksmithing tongs, then hold it over my anvil and hammer it into shape with my free hand. I have to be quick and get as much shape out of my steel as I can before it cools and becomes less malleable. I usually start with the head of the being I’m sculpting. Then I work to the next part of the body. And so on, and so on. In this piece, Raptor on Roses, I inlayed pieces of antique wood I reclaimed from old furniture. I glued in chunks of wood that show on both sides of the sculpture. When the glue dried, I used an electric grinder to carefully grind off the extra wood until the shape of my eagle was done. I filled in the gaps with a environmentally safe resin I tinted with brown and black paint. After the resin dried, I ground and sanded the surface until the resin only shows in the cracks between chunks of wood. I then made about two dozen steel rose flowers and welded them to an overlay of steel scraps, keeping in mind a bed of roses over brambles. Then, I carefully balanced my 150 lb. sculpture on the bed of roses and welded it securely.
