The simplest sculpted pieces are often the hardest to paint. We recently sculpted a four-foot apple for Ramseyer Farms in Ohio. The apple, of course, is smooth and round as an apple should be. The client asked that we make it as realistic as possible. When it came to the paint, we assigned Jay to the task. He has a lot of experience as a fine artist, and I knew he would pull it off with perfection. Typically, our work has a lot of texture, which makes blending and glazing much easier to do. Instead, Jay had to rely purely on his skill. Being bright red, there are more coats than normal to ensure the bright colours will last a long time. With each coat, the apple got better as he experimented with the multi coloured blends. By the last coat of paint, the apple looked good enough to eat.
Heading down the road
The loads we transport are quite unlike those of most trucks you see heading down the highway. We find it delightful that travellers who recognize our features often report back to us from various locations as the truck heads across the country. So if you are somewhere between Yarrow, BC and Gretna, Nebraska, over the next few days and see this load, snap a pic and send it to us. I look forward to seeing it again on Monday Morning at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch. Stay tuned…
Vala's load
Today was, at last, the day to load Vala’s Pumpkin Patch features. As always we relied on our friends for help. JD Transport, a local company, is our carrier of choice with Jason being the driver. As expected he expertly backed the trailer into the yard on his first attempt without breaking into a sweat. Then it was up to Greg, from Wishlow Cranes to lift the pieces onto the trailer. He is a smooth operator and the seven pieces were on the trailer in about a half hour. The features ranged in weight from a few hundred pounds to three and a half tons. Jason took his time to secure the load with four inch straps and in the space of a couple of hours our parking area was bare once again. Over the next days Jason will make his way to Nebraska. I’ll be jumping on a plane Sunday morning to head to Gretna, Nebraska and will meet him at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch on Monday morning. Stay tuned…
