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About Sandy post. (Sandy, Oregon) 1938-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 1982)
V o l 72 N o . 47 SANDY O REG O N THURSDAY NOVEM BER 25 1982 (VSPS 481-1801 S in g le Copy 25< Foundry helps artists sculpt ideas by DAN D ILLO N Maiden Bronze of Sandy is m ak ing its presence known in art circles throughout the Pacific Nor thwest “ When a piece leaves here, it is of museum quality It's ready to go to a gallery," according to general manager Lyle Isaak. “ It sounds kind of conceited, but we are the biggest, best facility in the Nor thwest” The local bronze foundry serves some 140 artists from California to Alaska helping them sculpt their ideas into reality Besides casting the works of art. Maiden Bronze personnel help artists with cost a n a ly s is , c o u n s e lin g an d budgeting "1 guess w e're the overall con sultant for the artist to pull off a big job." Isaak said Lyle Isaak Recently, big jobs at the foundry have included three life-size sea lions for the Sea Lion Caves on the Oregon coast, a m ural for Portland Adventist Medical Center and three "heroic-size” statues of John Wayne Heroic-size is life-size plus one- third, Isaak said, “ so John Wayne was about 8-foot-6." The local plant in Industrial Park is just half of the Maiden Bronze operation owned by Mike and Vicky Maiden of Sandy The prelim inary work is done by the firm in Walla W alla, Wash By the tim e a piece arrives here, it is a hollow wax pattern with it's imperfections tooled away. Once at the Sandy plant, the pattern is sprayed with lacquer and in spected for engineering problems A shell is built around the pattern and the wax is melted out. The project is then cast with hot metal, welded, tooled and finished with patina The “ norm al” piece takes six to eight weeks to com plete The John Wayne figures took three to six months "W e enlighten a lot of artists h e re .” the g en era l m a n a g e r pointed out " T h e ir d rea m s become re ality” He said some artists' eyes fill with tears when the technicians at Maiden Bronze cut up an original to make it easier to cast “ It's like watching your child get operated on, I guess. " Isaak said “ We have a lot of pride in our w ork.” he said, “ because I don't think there’s a harder person to please than an artist ” Of the 140 artists Maiden Bronze serves, about 40 are professionals, Isaak said, "and about 10 support us ” The foundry 's business is split between 70 percent Western art and 30 percent modern and fine art. “ When people think of bronze casting, they think of baby booties T h a t’s not what we do—no baby booties here ” The cheapest casting is about $150 and that's kind of expensive for a pair of bronzed booties, he pointed out The firm located in Sandy three and a half years ago to be closer to galleries and prominent artists th a t g ra v ita te to w a rd la rg e r population centers. Both Maiden and Isaak have purchased homes in the area Since that tim e the foundry has employed up to 35 persons at a tim e but is running at about one- third capacity now. Is a a k g ra d u a te d fro m the University of Oregon with a degree in fin arts, concentrating on pain ting and drawing "Once you understand fo rm ," he said, “sculpture is an extension of that. I sculpt every day. I t ’s just not with my name on it .” M ike Maiden graduated from a Washington university with a degree in art education. Education, Isaak said, is a big part of their work at Maiden Bronze Besides helping artists see their projects through from ideas to finished products. Isaak teaches the process to the employees “ You can't just pull someone off the s tre e t to w ork in a bronze foundry,” he said The workers have completedpro- je c ts ra n g in g fro m desk-top sta tu e ttes to m a jo r in s ta lla tions—and all points between. “ We have yet to turn away a project because we were afraid of it ,” Isaak noted. The average 12-inch bronze retails for $1.000 The John Wayne pieces retailed for $200,000 Obviously when you're working with works of art in that price range, patience and attention to the craft are valuable virtues “ Bronze is the kind of medium that’s going to be around years and A secret informant didn't even know that his assistance to police could be so valuable—both to the case and to himself. The informant whose tip led in vestigators to charge two men with the Aug 26 slaying of a Gresham man will soon collect a $1,000 reward posted by the vic tim ’s mother Information provided Oregon State Police led to the arrest of P erry Ellis L ovejoy, 20. of Dam ascus and W illia m R obert G ra b e r, 25, of Portland. They are charged in the death of Herbert “ Gene” Weed, 25, whose body was found by a hunter Sept. 4 about 20 feet from Wildcat Creek Road near Brightwood. He had been shot once in the head Lovejoy was arrested Oct. 29 at his home and charged with m urder He was being held without bail this week in Clackamas County Jail. Subsequent investigation led to the arrest of G raber, owner of the P lea sant Valley M arket. He was taken in to custody last Thursday. He was indicted on charges of m urder, first-degree kidnapping and two counts of felony murder in con nection with Weed's death He is also being held without bail in the county ja il, however, he has a bail bearing scheduled this Monday, Nov. 29. Weed was last seen about l:3 0 p .m Aug 26 as he was driving west on SE Powell Boulevard. The next day, a man was seen parking Weed's vehi cle on Union Avenue in Portland The d river left the car and hopped on the back of a motorcycle driven by another man. About three weeks later, Weed's mother, Mrs Ross E. Gearhart of Gresham, offered the reward for the arrest and conviction of her son’s murderers. Shopping mall still in works for Sandy site by DAN D ILLO N Photo« by Dan Dillon Brad Lorang grinds a piece after it has been cast to eliminate imperfections and bring it closer to the artist's original. years after w e’re all dead," Isaak said "Knowing this gives us a lit tle more pride in our w orkm an ship.” Tours are available through the plant by appointment Area artists are invited to meet with Maiden Bronze personnel and discuss their projects The foundry does not sell directly but can put prospective purchasers in touch with the pro per people. Alderwood hearing delayed again by M IC H A E L P. JONES Post Correspondent Eor the second tim e in two weeks, a rehearing on the 192-umt Alderwood Mobile Home subdivision didn't hap pen Monday morning developers and opponents, ready with legal counsel and conflicting facts and figures on the proposed planned unit develop- raent's potential environmental im pact, went to the Board of County Commisioners only to find just two commissioners present Missing was Commissioner Robert Schumacher who was home under doctor's care Diane Spies, attorney representing the project's developers, asked that the hearing be set over u ntil Schumacher could be present to hear testimony. “ It's very important that all three commissioners hear the entirety of the evidence," said Spies. “ O rd in ari ly we'd be eager to get going ( but. i on the other hand, this m atter has been appealed once and ( there are> threats for a second one, so we want to make sure the procedure and everything is fa ir." C o m m issio ner R alp h G ro en er questioned the motion, saying. “ We are constantly getting set over-itis” He preferred to hear the testimony because all the witnesses were pre sent D eanne L. D a rlin g , a tto rn ey representing Robert and Debbie Stephens, property owners bordering the development, objected She ask ed that Schumacher read the record before rendering his decision, which has been done in the past when a commissioner is absent from a hear ing C o m m is s io n e r S ta n S ko k o . Budget cuts don’t deter sixth-graders G ary Nelson's sixth-grade class at Cottrell School doesn't take a setback sitting down Faced with the elimination of fun ding for Outdoor School from this year s budget, the enterprising class has taken it upon itself to raise the money to attend A large th erm o m ete r on the classroom wail charts the progress as the class attempts to raise some $1.700 before the spring activity begins The class has sold tra il mix and held bake sales to ra is e the tem perature to $6oo so far In January they plan a rumm age sale and paper drive Nest weekend the class w ill spon sor a Christmas Craft Bazaar. Dec 4. at the school Hours will be 10a m to • pm Informant tips lead police to two arrests Members of Gory Nelsen's sixth-grade class at Cottrell have been keeping a close eye on (he classroom therm om eter as they attempt to raise money for Outdoor School. however, agreed with Spies and said it would be beneficial for both parties if the hearing was set over until a later date He said with one of the commissioners absent it would not be "good practice" to take testimony a development such as this one " I would have no problem with go ing ahead personally, but I known what will happen,” said Groener “ It won't ae a 2-0 vote on it. so for prac tical purposes I agree with what Stan's saying." The hearing has been set over until Jan 10. The proposed Alderwood Mobile H o m e s u b d e v e lo p m e n t, n e a r Brightwood, originally went before a hearings officer July 8. I9BI. but was set over for two months due to im proper notification After a hearings officer ruled in favor of the opposi tion, the developers appealed the decision to the commissioners This past summer, shortly after the commissioners had overruled the earlier hearings officer decision and gave the OK for construction of the c o n tro v e rs ia l d e v e lo p m e n t, op ponents appealed the decision to the Land Use Board of Appeals. LUBA remanded the development back to the commissioners for another hear ing To date, the proposed development has undergone the public hearings process five separate times, with two of these hearings set over due to im proper or lack of notification on the part of the county This marked the th ird hearing w here M t Hood residents made the trip into Oregon City (or a hearing that never took place * M ercury Development Inc. hasn't abandoned plans to build a large shopping center here, across from Sandy Industrial Park With current economic conditions, however, the company has found signing clients to be its biggest task “ People don't see a lot going on," Dave Zim el, of the development firm , said this week, "but behind the scenes w e 're going fu ll steam ahead." The project, approved by local of ficials in late 1979. w ill include two m ajor retailers and a host of sm aller shops in the 100,000-square-foot com plex Cost at the tim e of approval was estimated at $3 5 million Zimel said the firm doesn't plan to break ground on the complex this year, but the future could change plans practically overnight “ As far as 1983,” he said, " I don't know “ What we need to do is get two an chors As soon as we get two anchors, we would probably break ground If they came on board, we'd have ourselves a project and we'd be sta r ting in the spring " Along with the shops. Zimel an ticipates "a restaurant or two" w ill be included in the shopping center At the time of city council approval. M ercu ry Development represen tatives told the city council that Shari's Restaurant would be a te nant The length of tim e it has taken for the project to develop hasn't dimmed M ercury's enthusiasm. Zimel said “ W e're more excited about com pleting that project than we have been for some tim e ,” he said Index SECTION 1 Editorial. Opinion Keeping Posted Menus Senior Center News Obituaries Sports. Recreation 2 3 4 4 3 9 SECTION II Classified Ads T V Revue Inside Tab Inside Tab
