The Oval Office from Above (& Your Office from Below)

Not only is it a new year, but it is also exciting to watch a new presidential family moving into the American White House. I got a kick out of this Wikipedia photo from the Oval Office, and a bit of history about the decorative changes various presidents made in this famous office.  Being in the statuary business, I’m interested to hear what art work President-elect Obama will bring in to take the place of President Bush’s Remington sculptures.

This is the  perfect season for you too, to  bring in striking visual changes to your home or office.  Soon Mr. Obama will be looking up to see this patriotic eagle ceiling medallion with an Art Moderne touch.  How about this one below for your office?   Or perhaps the   absolutely brilliant golden focal point  for your dining room ceiling!?

 

We sell oodles of ceiling medallions in   different shapes, sizes and colors at Statue.com.

Make a statement.  Be the king or queen of your own domain!

 

Feeling like an Elf

I think my co-workers will agree.  We feel like elves. We have spent the last week at Statue.com really kicking into high gear to make sure all the boys and girls, grown-up and small, received their packages under the tree. 

In the office we’ve been busy as elves taking orders, helping phone customers decide on gifts, processing orders, & emailing out tracking numbers. 

In the shop we’ve been casting statues, applying finishes, waxing and hand-buffing , packing and shipping out the door just as fast as we can! 

I think we’re worn out!

We hope you enjoy your statues, and want you to know that we are really glad that you have chosen to do business with us  this holiday season! We appreciated working together with you.  Have  a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah or blessed Holiday event, however you celebrate.

Come back and see us!

Andrew, Gloria, Donna, Bob, Lydia, Carol, Anne, Josh    

Statue.com

(618)692-1121 or toll free: (877)675-2634

(ps.  if you’re a real elf, please don’t be mad about the gnomes.  We just sell so many cool ones  here at Statue.com!)

 

What a long strange trip it’s been…..

Statue.com is glad to introduce artist Number 2  in our  Music Legends statue collection!  “Come and join the party ever day,” sang Jerry Garcia and his band in the first original song on their first album.

Born in San Francisco on August 1, 1942, he joined with Ron “Pigpen” KcKeman in the early sixties playing a folk bluegrass style of music and forming the “Grateful Dead” band in 1965.

Over the next three decades, the Dead would extend its repertoire to include many different musical idioms, and would bring its wild show and entourage to cities across America and Europe, but throughout it all, the band’s music would remain rooted in what was eventually called the “San Francisco Sound”.

The Dead carried the spirit of the Sixties counterculture through three decades of touring and a dozen more studio and live albums.  The “hippies” lived on in the form of Deadheads.

Another lasting legacy of the Dead was its influence on a new generation of jam bands which adopted improvisation as the basis for their music.  The Dead’s music endures because it is so unique. No other band brought together jazz-inspired improvisation and all of rock’s root idioms – country, blues, folk, R&B – into a live performance art with such wide and sustained appeal.

Jerry passed away on August 9, 1995.  What a long strange trip it’s been…..

 

“One World ~ One Love”

What makes a Music Legend?

Limited Edition Bob Marley Bust

At Statue.com we are interested in seizing the opportunity  that our history, experience, and artistic potential afford,  to create new statuary products for our global customers.    We are excited to introduce the first statue in our new collection of Music Legends!

As possibly  the first third world musician to break on to a global, world-wide music scene, we are proud to offer this limited edition bust of Bob Nesta Marley as the  first piece in a groundbreaking collection.   Cast solid in a heavy composite of hydrostone and polymers, this unique art piece is hand-finished in a rich bronzed patina.

As the artist of this piece, and a huge Bob Marley fan, I am happy to share a few pictures of the process from the gathering of images for proportional reference, preliminary clay work up, and sculpting to the final cast product. 

 I listened to my share of Bob Marley music along the way, and watched Youtube videos to try and catch his character.

The mood that I have sought  to portray in this sculpture  is “One World ~ One Love,”  the very essence of Bob Marley’s message for me.

This limited edition sculpture will arrive in a specialized box with a Certificate of Authenticity signed and numbered by the artist.  Be one of the first to own,  or give a statue of,  not only one of the  foremost music legends of our time, but also a beloved champion of social justice for all peoples.

~Lydia Shalanko

 

The Making of a President

inital clay build up

Statue.com is pleased to be one of the first companies to offer a statue of our new President Elect Barack Obama!  It is a beautiful thing to see a boy or girl grow to become not only  a good man, a fine woman, but also a long awaited leader.

To make a portrait bust such as this one, from  the rudimentary build-up of clay, the details that distinguish each of our faces must be  teased out of the mass.   This reminds me of life!   Seeking paths, finding niches, and thus building our destinies.

finding the forms

It never ceases to amaze me that though most of us have all the same facial parts, 2 eyes, 2 ears, one nose, one mouth, the measureable difference in their arrangements creates such an overall unique face!

The creative process is a dream seeking forms–becoming something real, visible & meaningful.

In the words of our soon to be 44th President:

Barack Obama Bust

“We are the change that we seek. We are the hope of those boys who have so little, who’ve been told that they cannot have what they dreamed, that they cannot be what they imagine. 

Yes, they can.”

~Barack Obama

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meet the Bohm Building

In 1909, when land the Bohm building was to be built on sold to Mr. William H. Bohm,  the Edwardsville Republican newspaper stated: “The lot sold yesterday….and was considered by judges of real estate about the best and most desireable lot in the business district.”  We are happy at Statue.com to hold court in this fine old building.

Bohm building~ downtown Edwardsville, IL

It’s been shaking and rumbling for the last month though!  Glad to say this is not due to earthquake activity but to trucks and cranes hauling and moving land and materials in the creation of a fine new restaurant that will be opening downstairs next month.

I had to laugh today when I saw Amy Zupanci the chef and owner of the upcoming “FOND” restaurant, set up outside of  Statue.com’s Shipping and Receiving area.  She was meeting a wine distributor with some nice cheeses, and her pink hard hat by her side! Looked like the perfect alfresco office to spend a bit of a mellow, sunny afternoon in.

Amy Z

The presence of FOND will be a great addition to the downtown Edwardsville culinary scene.  Amy was telling me that it will be a “Slow Food” establishment, something I’m not familar with.  The Slow Food concept she explained, is a direct response away from the fast food lifestyle, and foods will be purchased locally, fresh, and in season.  What a wonderful idea~ a return to eating as a true experience, with emphasis on quality (not rushing) and emotional nurturance.

Check out FOND, coming soon to the Bohm building. We’re excited to have it here.

Well, it’s late in the afternoon.  I see from my office window that all but two workers have gone home for the day. Here in the back parking lot, (which will soon also be the back entrance of a restaurant), I can already imagine the outdoor seating, landscaping, and some fountains.  I know a really great place to purchase fabulous Fountains!  They have the best selection. and you can often chose the finish color.

Back of Bohm

The tall vent on the left side of the building was just installed for Amy’s ovens.  Has me hoping. Will I  be lucky enough to catch wiffs of homemade apple pie  coming in my office window?   Just like in the cartoons