Welcome to Eastport. It’s so exciting to see it all begin to come to life. And when you walk around and explore, you’ll notice a variety of unique bronze statues which are a reflection of the lifestyle our Villagers enjoy here every day. This was brilliant because it is a great place to sit. Yeah, it’s beautiful. The visor makes a great breakup between the hair and the face. I wanted you to be able to see her face cuz she is pretty intense in her pose. All right, selfie time. So, I’m here with Mike and Adam who helped us bring these beautiful statues to life here in Eastport. But this isn’t the first time we worked together. No, we go back um just over 15 years with the Brownwood project, the large cracker cowboy with the cattle. We were able to get Mike on board to do the job. Mike’s very humble, but he’s considered one of the best artists in the country for commission bronze work. That was an exciting project. I think he did a terrific job. We were just over there. The pieces look as good as they were when we installed them. Yes. I was so excited cuz it had a story behind it, paying some tribute to the cracker cattle. When you can do a project that kind of tells the story, it just makes it more appealing for me as an artist. So, when we first reached out to you guys about helping us with our concept for esport, what was the process that you guys have that helped us bring this to life? Well, first, um, obviously getting Mike’s schedule if he was able to do it. And then what we do is work with your team to talk about which type of sculptures you want. We’ll get you sketches. So Mike sent rough sketches of what our concepts are. Then we start working on the original clay sculptures that all the bronzes a lot of people don’t realize start out in clay, take the molds from there and then cast them in bronze. And what these sculptures are doing is kind of showing the active lifestyle that takes place in the villages here. And I loved all the themes and I can think about maybe 10 other sculptures that I could see here as well depicting the active lifestyle that takes place. So, how do you guys feel now seeing them in their forever home? It’s awesome. Honestly, it’s like I saw a golf cart go by and I thought somebody took off in my sculpture, you know, and then just seeing the people in the locations, it’s so appropriate. A lot of times a sculpture will be placed in front of a building and have no relationship to its surroundings. These guys just fit right in. It puts life into them. I see them in the studio. I see them in pieces at the foundry. And then to see them all together in this setting and they’re all lifesize. So I really like the interaction of other people, you know, um getting up next to them and it looks very natural. Do you guys mind sharing a little bit about your story? you know, why you love what you do and what inspires you to do it. I’ve always had a I’d say an appreciation for fine art. We specialize in original artwork and bronze sculpture. We also specialize a lot in commission work like what’s been done here at The Villages. One thing I can say from a career standpoint, The Villages Project is the highlight of my career for sure. I know for myself, I didn’t know I was going to be an artist and I knew I always liked art, but I I didn’t know if I could make a living at it. But then somebody said, “If you do what you love, you’ll be all right.” I truly believe that. I’ve been doing it for almost 45 years. And it’s just what I don’t feel like I’m working. I’m doing what I love doing. And doing projects like this have so much meaning to me. I’d say uh I was very fortunate when I first started. I did a life-size horse and rider for the 84 summer Olympics in Los Angeles. And that was unheard of cuz I really hadn’t I wasn’t an established artist yet. But once I got that, it seemed like I’ve been blessed ever since. And to do the pieces here at the villages mean a lot to me. It’s just fun. It’s fun to be around them. I I rarely see my sculptures once they get installed. So, it’s it’s nice to revisit, you know, they’re kind of like old friends. So, I want you guys to know that Nancy Lopez came to Eastport recently and she got to see her statue in the golf cart and she just loved it. You guys really knocked it out of the park. Oh, nice. Do you know how many people thousands of people are going to sit in there to get their pictures taken? Oh my gosh. So awesome. Who did this? His name is Mike. Oh my gosh, that’s awesome. Tiny Nancy. Nice. He did a great job. Oh my gosh.
Thank you. [Music]
I’m pretty proud. Thank you. It’s very nice.
Made me look good. I
I’m going to take a selfie. [Music] Ready? And thank you for remembering me and doing that. That was so sweet. You got to send me pictures I can show my girls. So, as you guys can see, Nancy loved it. Oh, thank you. That makes me feel good because I know she grew up in Torrance and I grew up in Torrance. So, it’s extra special and for her to to like it, that means a lot. Yeah. Well, and the detail work that you did with Nancy, um, it just ties in perfectly with the golf cart. I’ve been in this business over 30 years and the foundry that we work with has been in this business over 40 and nobody’s seen a life-size bronze golf cart. So, it’s pretty unique. Yeah. No, I’ve never done a golf cart. I mean, you don’t just cast a a golf cart. It has to be cast in pieces. So, uh, to to bring this all together and have Nancy next do it, it’s pretty special. Well, I’m sure our villagers are going to love walking around Eastport and taking pictures with our statues, especially when friends and family come to visit. We just really want to thank you guys for all your hard work on this project. We truly love it. Well, thank you. It’s been a pleasure. Hey, why don’t you take your phone and get a selfie of it? Yeah, sure. All right. Love it. Nice.
[Music]
