Do you remember when I wrote about the incredible bronze sculpture of the draft horse that is up at our Nevada County Fairgrounds?
Here is that story…
I pass this sculpture, THE GIANT, every day, twice a day. It is gorgeous and was sculpted by Todd Andrews.
A VISIT! REALLY?!
I wrote the above article in June of 2011.
Well, a last month, I received this comment on the post:
Todd Andrews is my “little brother”. I live and play in West Palm Beach, Florida (head honcho of the Kayak Fishing Club of the Palm Beaches) and just found your site when I did a Google search for Todd and I want to thank you for what you said and all. I do not know if he has seen your site, but I am sending him the URL. He is right now working on some more big bronze statues. Again, thank you.
David Andrews
So, of course I wrote back…
I said that I had once bumped into Todd and had gushed at him about my love of bronze. He was very polite and said I could come tour his studio anytime.
Well, I figured he was just being polite so I didn’t follow up –
I mean, he didn’t know me at all and I didn’t know anyone who knew him. I felt odd calling Todd and making him make good on a passing comment. I felt like a Bronze Artist Stalker or something.
But now…. I had an opportunity!
So, I replied to David Andrews and gushed again. I told him what I just told you and David said that ‘if Todd asked you to come to his studio, he meant it’.
And the next day, I had an invite from Todd:
Hey, Hey Dawn!!
My brother Dave ran across your comment on the Gentle Giant @ the Fairgrounds and forwarded it, to me. Thank you for the wonderful compliments!! We are working on a few interesting projects right @ the moment and you are welcome to come out, for the nickel tour. http://toddandrewssculpture.com/directions.html
So, I went!
Todd created that huge, fabulous sculpture.
Todd sent this shot in his email to me… it was one of the pieces he was creating right then!
Here is another piece, in clay, that he was in the process of sculpting.
THE GOLDEN TICKET IN THE WONKA BAR.
With the invitation for the Nickel Tour, I felt as though I had won a prize!
Really?! Me?!
Bronze sculpture is my favorite art form. I have a few little ones. But to be in a studio where the actual artist creates… well, that was incredible for me.
To begin, let me set this up for you.
Do you remember the first time you entered a real candy store? The wide-eyed delirious haze? The smells, the colors, the overwhelming selections…
Well… that was me when I walked into his studio. A kid in a candy store.
There was so much to see – everywhere – I was reeling.
These two pieces were in the driveway as I drove up. Todd said he created them really quickly for his son. Each side of the face is different.
This was the other side. Todd said he whipped this up in a few hours. Imagine that kind of talent…
THESE PHOTOS DON’T DO IT JUSTICE.
I’ll try to explain my first impressions because my little camera didn’t capture the wide angle volume of creative genius before me. You had to be there.
— It started at the driveway.
Everywhere I looked, there was a piece of sculpture sitting around – beside the driveway, on the patio, settled in the bushes, sitting on the rocks – everywhere!
Clearly I was at the right place.
My photos don’t do it justice… there was art and things to make art – everywhere! I was slackjawed and loved it! Todd uses a mirror to reflect his work as he is working.
APPRENTICES
As I left my car and approached, I saw 4 apprentices and the grown man, who I figured, correctly, was Todd.
With a warm smile and an easy likability, Todd welcomed me. However, he was mid-sentence giving instructions to his apprentices so I just listened.
The Apprentice who looked like he came from a Southern California beach was working on a larger than life-sized human hand. The local looking kid was working on the other hand and a one-of-a-kind iron table. The neighborkid looking kid was taking apart a seat on the jalopy dunebuggy artist’s contraption Todd was ‘fixing up to take to Burning Man this year’. The other apprentice who looked like an art student, was up on a scaffold, working on a clay human form that was 10′ tall.
All of the apprentices were happy. A good sign.
One apprentice was working on a larger than life hand …
This apprentice was working on the body. Do you see the smaller scale sculpture above that he is following…?
TODD OBVIOUSLY KNEW WHERE EVERYTHING WAS… AND HE MOVED THROUGH LIKE A DOLPHIN IN THE SURF
Todd invited me into his studio and this was when my mind couldn’t catch up with my eyes. There was so much to see and comprehend, I couldn’t.
Every thing, every shelf, every spot on the wall, every space on the floor was taken up by something used to create art, or a piece of art itself.
I was in heaven.
As I kept tripping physically and mentally because there was just so much stuff, Todd breezed through with the grace of a dolphin in the surf.
He pointed out this and that, told me a special story about every item and moved on so quickly, I couldn’t take notes. I could barely keep up. I just wanted to walk through slowly and absorb it all, like a museum.
But, that would have been rude and taken several days so I kept up…
I’ll try to impart the little stories that related to the pieces of art he showed me to the best of my memory.
For example, high up on a shelf were these four items… the horse was the original model made to create a huge bronze for a woman in honor of her Shires. The man is Jimmy Stewart. The fox ended up hidden in a larger piece… every bit of stuff in his place had a story!
This is the backside of the man they are creating. The dummy wearing the suit is used to create/viualize the feel of movement in a stationary piece.
Todd took me into the wonderland of his office – I know this looks a bit messy, but every single item has a story!
For example, this mouse face is hidden in a much larger sculpture (he likes to hide elements in his pieces). And that huge bronze talon (lower left) is from the giant eagle he created.
- Here is the final eagle sculpture. You can gauge the actual size by the hugeness of that talon!
HERE ARE SOME STORIES…
This is from the installation of the SHIRES.
I parked right next to the actual wire frame that was used for the SHIRES.
Another way to see the process…
The actual horses who were the models. Todd sits before his models and sculpts. He is quick! Sometimes he uses photos, but he likes live models.
Here are the final Shire bronzes Todd created from that tiny model he built.
A bit larger than life. Love this.
Todd created the STAR WARS CHESS SET that is sold everywhere. This is an original piece.
A few original bronze pieces that I saw around the garden area..
This dolphin was sitting outside his back patio…
A clay head from his original sculpture of Sam Mills.
Sam Mills Project
Todd did this when he was only 18! No denying his early talent.
This is a rack of clay that is ready for use. They have to roll it out so it is more pliable.
A synopsis of the process
And of course, Todd’s very sweet dog…
A FABULOUS HOUR IN WONDERLAND…
Our February Bucket Fund Foal is Bella, a sweet, orphaned baby mini donk got frostbite and lost her rear leg… but she is a fighter and ready for her prosthetic. Read about Bella here!
Click for the Mama Tess Surgery, Limb Profusion and Hospital stay Fund!
