Bell Buckle artist sculpts statue for governor's mansion

Sherri Warner Hunter stands beside the sculpture she created for the governor's mansion after being selected from more than 50 artists to make her vision. The piece is being installed Sept. 24 and will be unveiled at the First Lady's Luncheon Oct. 1. (T-G Photo by Tamara Belinc) [Order this photo]

Sherri Warner Hunter of Bell Buckle has recently completed a large statue for the Tennessee governor's mansion titled "In the Presence of Presents."

"The piece features the slate from the roof of the governor's mansion," she said. "The first lady wouldn't allow them to throw it away. She knew it could be used for something else."

Andrea Conte, Tennessee's first lady, worked with the Tennessee Arts Commission during the construction and restoration of the "Tennessee Residence," which is what the governor's mansion is also called. Conte located a group of artists from across the state to use the discarded materials from the site to fashion into new artwork to be displayed throughout the property.

Competitive process

Sherri was awarded the commission in 2004 after letters were sent to more than 50 artists across the state.

"About half responded," she said, "and they chose a few of us to do a mockup of our pieces. I am the only one who significantly altered the slate for my piece."

Most of the commercial work Sherri has done is in some sort of mosaics, and this piece was no different. She took each piece of slate, cut it down into small squares, used a concrete mixer to buff the pieces and then applied the pieces with a bonding solution.

From the beginning

Sherri's work started long before all of this. The mock-up featured a tall lady surrounded by large spheres. A change was made later to have the woman holding a dove with two others around her. She created a scale model of the piece in concrete, which now stands in her yard.

"I use a lot of math to create scales," she said. "Whenever I do art workshops, the kids are often disappointed to hear that."

Sherri blocked the piece with Styrofoam and then used hot tools to cut away some of it. She also uses a wheel piece on the end of a power drill to help cut it away.

"I try to find the art within the Styrofoam," she said.

She was able to roll the piece around as she worked on cutting away the shape. When the form had taken place, Sherri and her helpers, Sue Fuss and Janet and Tiffany Cataldo, stood the piece up. It still wasn't time to apply the tile pieces.

"We then added layers of alkali resistant fiberglass mesh," she said. "We build up layers of different thickness of mesh to make it strong. After that, we add polymer fortified concrete."

Time for tile

Most of the pieces of slate roofing she received were 15x18, but she also had some that were a variety of sizes.

"We hand-cut them with a saw to three quarters of an inch," she said, "and then we put them in a concrete mixer with sand to make the edges soft. "

The slate pieces were placed on the sculpture with Thinset, a cement adhesive.

"Each piece is then buttered, and the adhesive is applied to the back of each piece of slate," she said. "Then, we strike it on."

Filling gaps

A few empty places were left on the piece when the squares were applied, which meant Sherri and her helpers had to hand-cut pieces in the exact size and shape needed to fill the blank spaces.

"We couldn't put those pieces in the concrete mixer, so we had to hand buff those," she said.

The doves the sculpture features were done much in the same way, except instead of being a mosaic, they feature gold leafing on the outside. Sherri has to handle them with gloves because of how delicate the leafing is.

"I sent those away for someone else to do the gold leafing," she said. "I just got them back."

The installation for the piece is scheduled for Sept. 24. Media tours will be given Sept. 25, but the piece will be officially unveiled at the First Lady's Luncheon Oct. 1.

Future work

Sherri created this piece, entitled "Ward's Lobster," for the Bell Buckle Recreation Park in memory of Ward Anderson, the son of James and Julie Anderson, who died after an accident at Tims Ford Lake when he was just two years old. (Submitted photo) [Click to enlarge]

Now that this piece is finished, Sherri is concentrating on another project, this one located in Michigan. She is working on a cancer healing garden which will feature the transformation and three stages of a butterfly. Her past work includes "Ward's Lobster" at the Bell Buckle Recreational Park, "Rainforest Creatures" for Argie Cooper Public Library and the Imagination Chair Project at Farrar Elementary School in Tullahoma. In fact, Sherri has finished several projects for schools, including one at Thomas Intermediate School. She also has a project featured at the Fly Building.

Multiple talents

Not only is she an accomplished artist, Sherri is also the author of two books, "Making Concrete Garden Ornaments" and "Creative Concrete Ornaments for the Garden." In addition to her work, these books also feature other artists' projects and methods.

Sherri wants to thank her helpers for their dedication, because she says she, along with the three of them, have had a few personal crises over the last few years.

"I don't think I could have finished the piece without them," she said. "They were a tremendous help."