With metal as his medium, artist produces A monumental amount of 'wow'

Mountain man sculpture diverts drivers in Bigfork

Metal artist Alan "Al" Derber admits he can't resist driving past Grizzly Jack's Saloon/Casino in Bigfork for the road perspective of his new heroic-size sculpture.

"It's a real eye-catcher," he said. "It's more intricate than the bear."

About three weeks ago, the mountain man on a rearing, frightened horse joined Derber's popular grizzly sculpture as the newest artistic landmark outside the casino/restaurant near the intersection of Montana 35 and Montana 83.

It was immediately clear that the artist welded a monumental amount of "wow" into his double life-sized horse and mountain man. Drivers often veer off the highway for a closer look.

"Everyone thinks it's about the neatest thing they've ever seen," he said with a smile.

Derber sculpts in the tradition of his artist heroes Charlie Russell and Frederick Remington by bringing metal to life in action-packed vignettes.

In Derber's sculpted script, the grizzly rears up, spooking the horse and triggering the mountain man to pull out his muzzleloader. Casino owner Scott Johnson served as the artist's patron for the piece.

"It's based on the Grizzly Jack theme," Derber said.

Although the sculpture perfectly suits this business setting, Derber and Johnson developed the sculpture to sell although a price hasn't been set.

"We're using the casino as a place to show pieces," Derber said.

From metal sculpture cranes to decorative railings to huge pack-train chandeliers, Grizzly Jack's has become a gallery of Derber's ornamental iron craftsmanship. His pieces also appear in many high-end homes as gates, wall sculptures, furniture, fountains and more.

"That's what I've been doing for 10 years," he said. "But I hope to continue getting commissions to do larger pieces."

Derber moved to the Bigfork area in 1997 after working for about a year in Sun Valley, Idaho. Prior to that, Derber operated a shop in Wisconsin where he grew up.

From an early age, he displayed a proclivity for drawing and painting. After high school, Derber said he tried commercial art for a time but found that venue wasn't for him.

When he signed up to learn welding at a vo-tech school, he was looking for a way to make a living rather than a new way to make art. But his creative spirit soon guided his welding torch to produce wildlife and western sculptures between his practical welding for manufacturing and repairs.

"Using metal as a medium came to me naturally," Derber said.

He taught himself metal sculpting through trial and error. Derber started out creating wall hangings and mantel pieces, then moved up to some larger commissions.

"I used to do mascots for schools in Wisconsin," he said.

He moved from the Midwest to Sun Valley to find a more receptive populace for his wildlife and western-themed work. While he found a healthy appetite for art in the Idaho resort, Derber said land prices were sky high.

"I decided if I was going to stay out West, I had to move where I could afford to live," he said.

He moved his family to the Flathead Valley in winter 1997. Derber rented a building in Ferndale five years ago for his Great Bear Metals where he produced ornamental iron work for high-end homes and businesses.

Now in the process of building a new shop on Red Owl Trail, the artist designed his studio to accommodate his artistic endeavors from custom-painting motorcycles to building monumental-sized metal sculptures such as his Grizzly Jack's mountain man.

According to Derber, these works differ considerably from the more familiar bronze cast sculptures. Those pieces begin with clay or wax sculptures as the basis for a mold in which metal is poured.

Until the mold is broken, the artist can reproduce the piece. Not so with Derber's medium.

"Everything I do is one-of-a-kind," he said. "It's an original. I won't duplicate my art work."

Derber begins a commissioned piece with broad design concepts from the client. Then his own creativity takes over.

Inspiration comes from many sources, including his experiences as an avid outdoorsman who makes pack trips into the wilderness. For his mountain man and mount, Derber said his own horses and an antique piece of art played into the design.

"It was an old pen-and-ink drawing of a mountain man with a bear behind him," he said. "I also studied my horses to get the anatomy."

With a concept in mind, Derber built the skeletal structure capable of supporting many layers of steel. He faced many challenges as an artist committed to a realistic rather than abstract style.

"Keeping it in scale is the hardest part," he said.

Derber decided on a size two times that of an average horse which guided his work to the end, including his mountain of a man in the saddle.

"If that man stood up, he would be 10 foot tall," he said.

Derber's sculpture consumed about 200 pieces of 20-foot sections of one-quarter rod and 14 30-pound spools of welding wire. He spent months welding between the rods to create the realistic musculature and hair of the horse.

"I was lying on my back two to three days at a time," he said.

An up-close inspection of the piece reveals the lengths to which Derber went to achieve realism. He points out the girth strap, a dead ringer for the real thing.

The saddle reflects the same meticulous process of execution, built in layers like the real thing but with steel made to look like leather. He equipped his mountain man with everything needed to survive in the wild including a satchel known as a possibles bag, a Bowie knife and firearm.

"The gun is a black powder muzzleloader," Derber said. "It's got an octagon barrel, a hammer and everything on it."

He said he developed myriad techniques and tools to make steel emulate textures ranging from leather in a saddle to fur on the mountain man's hat. He jokes that the problem with steel is that it really wants to stay straight.

"You apply heat and pressure, usually together," he said. "Steel gets warm enough around 800 to 1,000 degrees."

Derber had his new piece nearly finished when personal disaster struck last June. He shattered his upper left arm when a motor home pulled into the path of his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on a bridge while he was on a trip in Washington state.

"That was the first accident I've had in 30 years of riding," he said. "I thought they might have to amputate it (the arm) when I saw the X-rays."

But a surgeon at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle saved his arm and his career. With the help of his assistant Jerad Trannum, Derber completed the mountain man and horse, then applied an acid patina and finish in August.

Derber said he didn't have the complete perspective on his work until he viewed the piece outside his shop.

"It was like waiting for a baby to be born," he said. "It was a big, major event for me personally."

For additional information about the artist, contact Great Bear Metals at 837-0376 or his Web site www.greatbearmetals.com.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.