A special work of art
Williston man dedicates four years to Bush statueBy JILL SCHRAMM, Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com
Article Photos
WILLISTON Admiration for a U.S. president drove Dr. John Andelin to devote his spare time for more than four years to creating a special work of art.
The Williston pathologist sculpted a nine-foot-tall statue of George H.W. Bush in marble. The statue, showing Bush looking upwards with his left arm out-stretched, was installed and dedicated last week in the George and Barbara Bush Center at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.
"I thought he was a great president and a good man. Every artist that produces a work wants to make some sort of statement in that work and convey some sort of a message. I felt that I wanted to create something to express what kind of a man I think he is," Andelin said. "I wanted to have him gesturing somehow, and to convey a spirit of optimism and leadership and vision."
Having Bush's approval of the image was important to him as well.
"I felt very honored that he would want that in the center," Andelin said.
Andelin and his wife, Cindy, attended the unveiling and dedication Sept. 17.
According to a news release from the university, Bush told the gathering that "I am very happy to have this statue here at the center, which we are going to use more and more, at this campus that we really admire and respect. And it has this nice dock where I can bring my boat. It was a bit choppy out there today." The former president arrived at the ceremony by water while Barbara Bush arrived by land.
Andelin said full-figured marble statues of presidents are rare. He's aware of marble statues only of Washington, Lincoln and now Bush.
Andelin had contacted the Bush presidential library after conceiving the idea for a memorial in marble in 2000. Library officials were interested in getting a statue for the Maine center and asked for drawings. George and Barbara Bush reviewed the plans and offered feedback. Andelin did a 17-inch bronze model for them to see as well.
In February 2003, Andelin traveled to Texas to obtain three-dimensional photographs of the nation's 41st president.
"Even though we have all these photos of George Bush, having a 3-D reference is extremely valuable to capture the likeness," he said.
Andelin began the actual work with a 9-1/2 ton block of Yule marble from a Marble, Colo., mine, the same mine that provided marble for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier.
The digital sculpting used on the project was something new for Andelin, who is self taught in traditional hand-carving. He has used the master sculptors' centuries-old technique of constructing clay models and transferring measurements of the models to stone. It is time-consuming, and he became interested in digital sculpting to speed the process.
"I started realizing that the roughing out part was 90 percent of the work. It didn't present any challenges as far as artistic ability. I began seeking ways to cut down on measuring and spend more time on composition and creativity," he said.
Along with the computerized sculpting, he used a diamond-studded chain saw and grinders to rough out the image. The project still required considerable hand work over the entire statue to bring out the detail.
The statue's left arm was carved separately and attached. Andelin explained marble, like wood, has a grain so it was necessary to carve the arm separately to avoid any weakness in the statue caused by going across the grain.
Throughout the sculpting process, Andelin kept the Bushes apprised of the progress through photos. Two people from the Bush library came to Williston last year to check on the statue.
When the statue was completed, there came the delicate task of loading it with a forklift into a crate for the truck trip to Maine. Once at the Bush center, a crane lifted the 2,700-pound statue to deposit it through an opening in the roof. The statue is installed at the top landing of a stairway, with the statue facing the inscription on a wall: "CAVU: Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited."
Andelin's California agent is in talks to have Andelin create a statue of the former president and his wife to be located in a new George and Barbara Bush Institute of Health Policy at Texas A & M University in College Station. Andelin met with Barbara Bush five months ago to obtain 3-D photographs.
Andelin, who has practiced medicine in Williston since 1985, plans to remain in medicine, which he loves as much as art. But he also wants to get more involved as a sculptor.
"I would love to do portrait sculpture, not necessarily of famous people but portraits in marble," he said.
Andelin took up wood carving as a teenager growing up in California. It wasn't until 1993, though, that he took a serious interest in sculpting. In addition to his wood-carving and furniture making, he created a life-size statue of a youthful Joseph Smith, a prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The marble statue is on display at Brigham Young University-Idaho. His marble bust of Jesus is on display with the church in Salt Lake City.
He and his brother, Brian, of Monett, Mo., formed the Art Monument Foundation in 2003 to promote art at public buildings, grounds and monuments. They are contributing to the discussion on what to do about cracks occurring at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington Cemetery.
John Andelin created marble exemplars featuring two panels on the tombstone to show that the monument can be reproduced. The panels are on display at the site. Some historic preservationists have pushed for repairing rather than replacing the monument, although attempts to repair haven't been successful, Andelin said.
"At some point I would hope to be involved in the replication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier if and when they decide to go ahead with it," he said.
Examples of Andelin's work can be seen on his Web site at (www.heroicmarble.com).
