Sculptor-artist-cabinetmaker Kerry O’Toole
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Having launched a sculpture competition in fall 2014 called
“When Pigs Fly”, O’Toole can wax poetic about technique.
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An Ontario native, Kerry O’Toole arrived in Carleton County in 1976 driving a Volkswagen van and carrying a few hand tools. His colourful background includes stays in Toronto and Montreal where he worked in factories making boats, cabinets and furniture. He finally went freelance in 1987. “It was a hard pull,” O’Toole says.
Today, he is best known locally as the owner of the O’Toole Gallery in Grafton NB (which took him four years to build starting in 1999) while, on the national front, his large-scale sculptures appear annually at the prestigious Kingsbrae Garden Canadian Sculpture Competition in St. Andrews NB. And who could forget the tableau of the Hartland covered bridge made entirely of McCain French fries?
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Summer Saturdays, the grounds of
O'Toole Gallery host a farm and craft market.
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Even though I had always wanted to carve, that wouldn’t have been until the late 1970s. I just picked up a chisel and went to it. First it was birds, furniture, doors… then I tried larger sculpture and relief carving. People like the big sculptures but it’s pretty tight trying to sell sculpture. Furniture pays the bills.
Speaking of big, how long have you been showing at the Kingsbrae sculpture competition?
This year is my fourth time and I was lucky enough to win the top prize the first year. They’ve all been very large works. The piece in St. Andrews this year is eight feet high and took me six weeks to complete. (See below.)
Have you won any other competitions?
The first was right here in Woodstock, many years ago, for a mural on the side of a Main Street building. It never got done for some reason. Later I proposed erecting a huge small-mouth bass sculpture near the river. Didn't fly. Public art downtown, I’ve always liked that idea. Woodstock’s traditional retail core seems to be fading but with the right mix of art at street level, people would say “you ought to go into town and see those statues” or whatever. Let’s make an impression!
How would you approach a commission like that?
Something along the waterfront would work. Local wildlife sculptures: weasels, eagles, racoons. Maybe a few birds perched on rooftops or on the side of buildings. How about some fiddlehead sculptures around the Meduxnekeag Bridge?
How much do you figure it might cost to make a big impression, all-in?
You could start with 50 grand. One hundred would be nice. That would get you maybe 50 geese on the banks of the rivers downtown.
Wouldn’t maintenance be a problem over time?
The pieces that I do for Kingsbrae hold up well. I’ve learned over the years how to seal the wood so it holds up and I finish it with automotive paints and epoxy. You just need to give it a clear-coat every few years.
Let’s hope something like that tickles the fancy of the town or a benefactor. Meanwhile what’s on the horizon for you?
Two potential projects. I’ve got my eye on a grassy spot near the Grafton Bridge that would be perfect for a sculpture and a little park. I’m also applying for a grant to do a kinetic sculpture of a beehive. The bees would be made of epoxy and in motion around the hive. It could be lit at night. Kids would love it!
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O’Toole has been participating in the Kingsbrae Garden Canadian Sculpture Competition in Saint Andrews NB for four years and this new work, 8-feet high, was on view there this summer. At retail, a piece like this would fetch $20,000 or more.
PHOTO PAUL TWYFORD
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