After extensive deliberation and vetting, the Veterans Memorial Park Association committee chose National Sculptor's Guild member Gary Alsum to create the park's central highlight; a six feet tall bronze cast World War II era soldier. Gary is well-known as a gifted sculptor and has created hundreds of pieces for both private collections and public display.

One of the many photos of the 1/3 life size clay study the committee received for approval, shown here as it might appear in bronze in a park setting.

"The central theme of my work is celebrating the gift of life", says the artist. "My sculptures are successful if they heighten the viewer’s awareness of how precious is that gift."

The VMP committee felt this was the perfect approach for depicting a brave and war weary soldier caught in a moment of quiet reflection.

The process for creating the bronze is quite extensive and involves a number of steps before the actual sculpture is cast. The artist first begins with an assessment of the clients needs. Then, working with a model, photographs are taken of various poses that will closely resemble the finished product. The photos are later completely blackened and submitted as silhouettes to the client for selection and approval.

Only after the silhouette is agreed upon does the sculptor actually begin modeling the statue. However, the first model, called a maquette and created in clay, is only 1/3 life size and serves as a study for further client approval.

This back and forth process goes on until both the client and artist are satisfied.

"I enjoy the challenge of combining the client’s vision and needs with my own ideas to create lasting depictions of significant people in their lives", says Gary.

Though the maquette is very detailed, because of its small size, it is difficult for the sculptor to capture every nuance that will be in the final bronze. So, a life sized clay model is created next to further refine the piece. When this clay is finished, it will be used to cast the actual bronze statue.

Learn more about the artist at GaryAlsum.com