Here's the monument which was cast at the foundry where I work -
Kalispell Art Casting - being unloaded in Saint John New Brunswick. The artists Darren Byers (in the striped sweater) and Fred Harrison (in the brown leather jacket) who created this Homage To Workers are there awaiting it's arrival. They gave their final approval at the foundry then drove home from Kalispell to New Brunswick a few days before the monument shipped out. All of us at Kalispell Art Casting are very proud to have been a part of this endeavour.
The monument will be stored until the spring then transported to a park in Saint John for the Official Unveiling in April.
This is what the monument looked like a few short weeks ago when our crew was finishing off the metal work. The artists who created this piece in clay are Darren Byers and Fred Harrison from New Brunswick, Canada. Darren contacted us about 18 months ago looking for a bid and explained that they had entered a competition as the nearby City of Saint John wanted to erect a monument as a homage to workers. At this point they were just one of numerous contestants. Then he emailed and mentioned that they were in the top 5.....then a couple of weeks later they were in the top 3 and then - They had won .....Yippee.....I am happy to say that they chose our foundry over many others. We had never worked with them before but what a pleasure it was to work with these 2 Creative Spirits.
After some final adjustments it's time to load the piece (actually we shipped it in 4 separate pieces) onto the flat bed truck. We always hire the local Harmon Crane Company to move the large bronze statues from our dock onto the truck - as they do a great job.
Jon Olson and Jack Muir - the owners of Kalispell Art Casting - supervise the monument's departure. Jack & Jon have owned and operated the foundry for 31 years! Their combination of knowlege & experience is awesome.
This is the tricky part..... trying to manouevre a 3500 lb moving object is not for the faint of heart.
The above 3 photos are of one of the lions almost finished. The color of the raw bronze is gold. The next (and final) stage is patina.
By applying chemicals, our patina artist changes the color from the raw bronze golden color to what we call a "standard" bronze patina. The artist picked the lions up yesterday to take to an art show. Onto the next project.... 
