pilot – Sculptor Gary Lee Price

On The Wings of Love

One of our valued clients shared with us the following story, illustrating how wonderful it is when art can stand as a lasting tribute to love.

My husband and I built and flew an airplane from 2000 to 2004! At one of the small airports that we stopped at I saw this statue and loved it. I saw it again later at a local garden tour. When my husband passed away suddenly in 2005, I remembered this statue. I had no idea how to find it. I finally contacted the Dubuque, Iowa airport where I had first seen it. The manager there was so nice. He said they were remodeling and the statue was in storage, but he would find out the sculptor and get back in touch with me. He did and I went straight to the Gary Price website and there it was, WINGS! I ordered one for me and a smaller one for a friend that had been such a big help at the time of my husband’s passing. I will never forget that the first one I ordered didn’t seem large enough for the area that I had. That was not a problem! I returned it to Gary Price and immediately received a larger one that fits the space perfectly! It is right outside my sewing room window (where I spend a lot of time!) and I love looking out and seeing it (summer or winter!) WINGS is the epitome of flight and reminds me of my husband and how much he loved flying.

Questions That Matter

Yesterday a call came into the office. The conversation started with the usual surface level conversation about the particulars of timelines, payment, and shipping details. I heard a loving mother speak to me about the sculpture she was purchasing to honor her son. Then something beautiful happened. The conversation took a turn when I asked the question “Can you tell me about your son?” As she did my heart connected with hers. She said he was a pilot for a major airline and that he got cancer and passed away at a fairly young age. She told me a bit more about his life and I listened. We cried together and our souls connected with compassion for the loss of someone who held meaning in the world. I expressed my admiration for her choice to pay tribute to her son by erecting a statue in his memory. Then she said something that I will never forget… “I am doing this with the hope that when a little boy walks past and looks up at the sculpture, that he can dream of one day becoming a pilot like my son.” She asked me to thank Gary for creating the sculpture that captured the essence of her son’s life.

Art has a way of touching souls. It comforts, remembers, honors, inspires, and holds individual meaning for the creator, the giver, and the receiver. Sculpture stands as a lasting tribute and as a memorial for remembering. Sculpture is a reminder that taps on the shoulder of the soul to wake it up for but a moment. It calls to us, it stops us in our tracks, it makes time stand still. It announces, it whispers, it insinuates. Sculpture agitates, prompts, provokes, and nudges our senses. It begs to be seen, touched, and heard. What meaning does sculpture hold for you?

After I hung up the phone, I relayed the details of my call to Gary. He asked me to tell him more about her son. I learned about the heart of the sculptor yesterday. Strangers all are we until we ask questions that matter.