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I was at the beach with some friends and they started
brainstorming about a retirement gift for their boss.
Being an artist, they always turned towards you and say
something like, get Tracy, she could come up with something.
Geoff McVeigh immediately asked me if I could do a papermache’
lifesize of his boss. Geoff was mentored by, and thankful
for Mr. W.E. Singleton. Geoff was determined to make his
gift, more of a blue ribbon-one of a kind prize, a show stopper,
a present to make your head tilt to the side with a “WHAT?”
I had never done papermache except in kindergarten, and had only
done a few ornaments out of clay for a Christmas party tree.
I heard myself say sure, I’ll make it fun. Geoff
commissioned me to interpret and design a figure for an
unveiling Jan. 2005. This was to be the last gift of the
evening, at an honored Roast for Mr. Singleton, at the Downtown
Club. Mr. Singleton, a commercial real estate tycoon in
Richmond, VA, a generous donor to the VCU Performing Arts
Center, was in for a surprise. As Geoff began to
bring me newspaper articles about Mr. Singleton I gathered the
following: he looked like a slightly bigger than life man, a
68-year gentlemen, whose size, character, and photos somewhat
resemble WC Fields. Mr. Singleton is a “man who has
everything man.” A man reluctant to accept new age
technology. A man known to drink 10 Jack Daniel’s and
water before dinner. A man when asked in a newspaper
interview, “What’s your favorite food?” Answered…..”Jack
Daniel’s”.? I quickly learned from the several Richmond
Times newspaper articles that W.E. had made a million + career
in real estate, had green eyes (the color of money), chain
smoked Kent cigarettes, drank to excess, loved jazz music, had a
large presence and a sense of humor. He loved jazz music
so much that every inch of his pool house were cluttered with
photographs of he and all the “greats”-Miles Davis etc.
I began this project with the newspaper clips, a few digital
images, 5 pounds of Virginia Dogwood Clay, and the help of
Jonnie Kinney-the owner of Richmond Pottery Studio. Our
greatest challenge was time-the roast was scheduled to be just
days away. I must admit: If only people
created and made more of their gifts, how much more interesting
the world would be. Forget the mall when you can use your
hands and your imagination. I decided, at that
point I wanted the sculpture to be whimsical and classic at the
same time. The timelessness, like an old jazz tune, would
come from the frame. Joe Frostik came to the rescue.
He produced this stately frame, a circa 1890-1910, that he had
purchased from The Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, VA.
Originally it had hung with a portrait of a Southern General.
Using ammonia, I carefully lifted the hundred-year dirt out of
the gold leaf edging and then enhanced the edges by adding some
Renaissance gold leaf. I rubbed and buffed the gold until
it accentuated the details on this creamy 30x36-scrolling frame.
I had a brass tag engraved to say-WE SINGLETON “MY WAY SINCE
1966”. The formal frame would balance the silliness of the
$ eyes, the rolling tie, and the Jack Daniel label that the bust
would be mounted on.
Eclectic-ness the necessary ingredient for
intrigue. The stages were fascinating.
First step: Extruding the clay into coils. The vinegar
slip acts as glue, to attach the coils to one another creating a
large head. Stuffing it with balled up newspaper to
maintain shape and prolong the drying time. My original
concept was to make the likeness as an actual bust that sits on
a pedestal. I changed angles and decided to create it on a
flat surface. Step two: The creative decisions.
The eyes had the dollar sign. The tie would be painted
yellow with polka dot, the type Mr. Singleton actually wears all
the time. Kent cigarette logos would be hand painted on
each polka dot giving it some whimsy. The back of the tie
was where I chose to sign my piece. Like actual ties on
the underside that says: Handmade by Tracy Mang. The nose
and the chin sculpted as close to likeness. Scoring and
slipping the ears and pieces it slowly became one. Using a
fetling knife, I sliced in the details to make the hair more
pieced and realistic. Next step: Firing the
beast. SCARY. Johnnie’s 30+ year experience of
knowing when the piece was dried and ready to fire. If you
have any air space within the piece it will respond like a
grenade and explode in the kiln into millions of tiny chards.
God willing Mr. Singleton survived with only a few cracks that
were glued and I camouflaged the injuries with acrylic paints.
Painting was the easiest part for me. That’s when Johnnie
said the piece came to life. Finishing touches:
To attach the head we wired it to the JD laminated plywood in a
purely artful way. Screwed on the tie. Propped it up
under a large white veil and hand delivered it for the night of
the presentation. At the end of the night Mr. Singleton
came up to Geoff. “So…. Where did you find this?”
Geoff off the cuff chuckled. “Yardsale”. It
definitely beat out the Wal-Mart vest he received, as if to
suggest that’s what Mr. Singleton would be doing with his
precious newly acquired free time. In my opinion, Geoff’s
intention was 20 steps above the boring, old gold engraved
plaque that no one ever bothers to read. Geoff would say,
“If those plaques make it out of the gift box, they won’t stand
out on the “I love Me wall” like a sculpture. The
project as many artists can explain, made me feel many emotions
such as fear, anger, success, amazement, anxiety, fun, etc like
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