Not My Largest Elephant

Several of you commented on the size of the elephant sculpture I am just completing. When I built the first of any animal, I made it what I felt was the "right" size.  Not the real size.  Then if it was a popular animal I added other sizes.  Some I do in only one size, some in small, medium and large. For each animal I do, I create and keep a master sculpture so if someone orders one from a picture on my web site, they get one that is very much like the one in the picture.


For the elephants, the one in my previous post is a Large.  But he is not the largest elephant I have ever done.  I once did one I called my Huge elephant!


Several years ago a client contacted me and wanted a "life size" elephant head.  I did a little research and told him just how big that would be, and after some discussion and room measurements, I agreed to do an elephant that was about four feet wide from ear to ear.
Definitely not life size.
He wanted it to  hang it in his Palm Springs, Florida townhouse dining room.  He never sent me a picture of the room, but he did say he was very pleased with it.  


It took me about six weeks to make, and most of the work was done outside.

Shipping The elephant from California to Florida was a challenge. His ears and tusks were made so they could be boxed separately and installed by the client.  He went in two boxes.  But they were still too large for FedEx or UPS.  He ended up going by Greyhound Bus.  You can send fairly large boxes that way, but someone has to pick them up at the station. I used to ship moose that way until I developed a way to make the antlers removable.

I still have the master sculpture for the elephant hanging in the garage.  Over the years I have had two serious inquiries about making another.  One client ended up ordering a set of four other African animals for the space, and the other balked at the "pay in full before I start, no refund" condition I put on the job.  I don't do that for any others, but I didn't want to get stuck with it if the client changed her mind.

And then there was the whole Zebu ...  But that's another story.