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
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