I rarely like to show works in progress let alone proposals I’ve made before actually sculpting them. However, this one is one I have been looking forward to since July 2017 when I made this drawing and I am FINALLY beginning work on her so I figure why not show the concept. The life size bronze sculpture will be called Gold Star Wife and will be, what I hope, a poignant tribute to sacrifice when visiting American Veterans Park in eastern Nebraska. The 1/4 acre park will honor veterans and their families of the U.S. Armed Forces; the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corp and Navy paying respect to God, Country and Family. Towards the backside (east end) will be a section for remembering the fallen. Five folded flags will be atop five black granite columns with inscriptions etched into the granite. Just in front of this section will be Gold Star Wife holding a folded flag kneeling in front of her husbands military grave marker. She has just laid down poppy flowers which are a symbol of remembrance since the first world war. The soldiers headstone and bronze sculpture will be permanently installed on a black granite base and the monument is designed to remember those who have fallen while serving our country.
The grieving woman in Gold Star Wife will be the same woman from my sculpture Returning Home (which was finished last week in clay) and both will be located 30 or so feet apart from each other attempting to illustrate those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Although the two sculptures will not be assembled as one composition, the connection between the two will be one that viewers will make themselves when walking through the park. The separation will be symbolic of the separation the woman feels in her heart for her late husband, a man who served our country and paid the ultimate sacrifice.
The two bronze sculptures will be unveiled on Gold Star Mother’s Day, September 30, 2018 in West Point, Nebraska.
