COCHRANE, Alta. — It was a relationship forged in bronze.
Don Begg and his wife Shirley have worked side by side for 54 years at Studio West Bronze Foundry & Art Gallery, their massive space in Cochrane, Alabama, northwest of Calgary.
Together, their works include 160 statues exhibited in Canada, the United States, Germany and France. Hundreds of other smaller pieces have been created for private collectors.
“She’s going to go in there and do whatever she can. She’s going to work on one leg on one side and I’m going to work on the other leg on the other side. We’ve worked together our whole lives,” Begg said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
Among them is the 430-kilogram bronze statue of hockey star Wayne Gretzky holding the Stanley Cup above his head. This work was on display at Rexall Place in Edmonton and was then renovated before being installed downtown at Rogers Place, the current home of the Oilers.
Her most recent, eye-catching creation was a 2.5-metre-high, 450-kilogram bronze rifleman dedicated to the soldiers of the Royal Regina Rifles. It was unveiled in June by Princess Anne on the Place des Canadiens in Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse, France, near the beaches of Normandy.
It took nine months to complete and cost $300,000.
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“It was a real honor to be asked if I would do it, and when the guy called and said, ‘Are you interested?’ I didn’t even think about it for a millionth of a second. I said, ‘Absolutely. We’re in,'” Begg said.
“We specialize in realistic sculptures, so to speak.”
The massive model of the shooter, covered with a 2.5 cm thick layer of clay over a metal frame, stands in the workshop.
They also include a World War I soldier and the first immigrants to Western Canada, represented by a man in a bowler hat, a woman in a fancy hat, and a boy and girl with pigtails.
The couple also specializes in creating Indigenous figures, including a three-meter-high statue of Sitting Eagle, chief of the Stoney First Nation, in downtown Calgary.
Begg says he is equally proud of all of their work.
“They’re all my favorites. You learn something about each piece, and we’re making bronze pieces that will last a thousand years. So you always want to do your best because you’re not going to be there forever and make excuses,” he said with a chuckle.
Shirley Begg said they would never settle for second best.
“Perfect is good enough. If you were here all day, you would actually hear that perfect is good enough,” she said.
“There are no seconds. There is no repeat. Perfection is our goal and that is the only acceptable thing.”
In the forge itself, a molten brew of brass ingots simmers in the crucible before the lava-like liquid is carefully poured into the ceramic casing of the statue.
It’s backbreaking work, but Begg says he manages to do it with the help of cranes attached to the ceiling.
“Maybe another 25 years,” he said.
“Maybe 30. No desire to retire.”
Other works include identical statues of James Macleod, Commissioner of the Northwest Mounted Police, in Calgary and Ottawa, four larger-than-life statues of four fallen RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, and one depicting Nellie McClung circa 1929, as a member of the “Friends of the Five” who campaigned to make women “persons” under the law.
Begg is set to receive the Alberta Order of Excellence in October to honour women and men “who have contributed so much to the common good.”
“When you talk about the fact that we have about four million people in Alberta now … and they only have about 220 of them … that in itself is quite an honour. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
But until that happens, he still has a lot to do.
“There are probably about 80 bronzes on order at the moment, so we’ll just keep going.”
© 2024 The Canadian Press
