Grief —
by Barry W. Sheehan

Description:

"Grief" was created in response to the death of my mother. After a time and when I felt ready I relaxed and closed my eyes and the image of a man in this pose and riding a sled came into my mind. I took my share of artistic license with the styling of the piece but the pose and the sled are what I saw. My interpretation of the piece is that grief is like taking a downhill ride on a sled; at first you accelerate but with time the sled will hopefully slow and the sadness will begin to subside. I thought I would never sell this piece it held something very personal for me. A few months ago a friend expressed an interest in purchasing the work and I naturally balked but thought maybe I would offer a bronze copy. When my friend told me of the tragic accident that killed several family members I decided to reconsider my earlier decision. I realized that my sled ride had slowed enough for me to move on but my friend's ride was still moving fast. I sold the piece knowing it was going to someone who needed it more than I did. "Grief" was made of wrought iron and copper. The metals were all hand forged and one of a kind. I still have a goal of creating this piece a bit larger than life size and perhaps a table top rendition that I may cast in bronze but each head would be hand forged in copper which will allow each sculpture to be unique.