Heavy metal
John Williams of Kalispell Art Casting attaches straps to a dancing bear sculpture Tuesday afternoon at the casting business in preparation for the sculpture being hoisted onto a flatbed truck. Artist Bob Stayton, 80, created the sculpture. Karen Nichols/Daily Inter Lake
Bronze bears dance toward Bigfork
Bob Stayton's dancing bears sculpture left Kalispell Art Casting on Tuesday on the first leg of a journey to a palatial new home on Bigfork Bay.
The grizzly bears, measuring more than 9 feet tall, form the signature art piece of Bear Dance Village, a development of nine custom condominiums due for completion this year.
Stayton, of Buffalo Trails Gallery in Bigfork, has worked more than a year on the monumental sculpture. He described the style as loose and friendly and the actual size as somewhere between a grizzly and a brown bear.
"The original was 15 to 18 inches high," Stayton said. "We pointed it up using a digital CAD machine."
He said the process uses a computer and a carving machine to create a full-sized version in foam from his scale-model clay sculpture. Stayton then brushed a thin layer of clay on the foam, creating the fine detail lost during the machine carving.
He said the old process of pointing up from a scale model consumed from 12 to 16 weeks compared to a few hours using the digital process.
"The way we used to do it was all handwork and labor, labor, labor," Stayton said. "This reduces the cost down quite a bit and we get the same result."
Kalispell Art Casting created a mold from the foam-and-clay sculpture to cast the bronze bears, which weigh about 2,000 pounds. A plate welded on the base of the artwork adds another 1,200 pounds.
Although the sculpture was moved near Bigfork this week, Stayton doesn't expect to mount it until warmer weather this spring. Plans call for the dancing bears to stand on a lit, revolving platform visible across the bay.
"It will make one complete revolution in an hour," he said.
The artist of Welsh-Irish and Cherokee descent has worked in Bigfork for more than 20 years and as a full-time artist for 30 years. He was raised on the eastern front of the Rocky Mountains in Montana and had an earlier career as an interior design architect.
Stayton's sculptures span wildlife, hunting, fishing and western-themed work. His commissions included a larger-than-life-size bronze of former Gov. Don Nutter for the city of Sidney.
Stayton, 80, describes himself as an artist and a storyteller. The completion of his dancing bears marked a personal milestone for him as well as perhaps his last sculpture of that magnitude.
"It's a little hard on the body to do that size," he said.
He was emphatic that he intends to continue producing bronze sculptures and has no plans to retire.
Stayton said he was excited to have his work on display at Bear Dance Village, developed and owned by John Olson. He was lavish in his praise of the workmanship in the condominiums that range from 2,500 to 3,800 square feet.
"I used to be in the design business," he said. "These are outstanding and a real credit to Bigfork."
Bigfork builder Ron Incoronato & Co. serves as the general contractor for the development that began construction in 2007. John Pearson of RiverBend Realty represents the high-end property.
"They're not on the market yet but they're quite a ways along," Pearson said.
The nine condos were built in a configuration of three buildings in a style described as "old world mountain village" incorporating massive stone walls, arches and heavy timbers. Each unit comes with a boat slip.
Additional information about Bear Dance Village is available at www.riverbendbigfork.com. For more about the sculptor, go to www.bobstayton.com.
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.