Affordable Art
AFFORDABLE ART
SCULPTURE ON A SMALLER SCALE
LIKE MOST ARTISTS, BRUCE Hebron is a romantic. The difference is that modes of transportation are what set his creative juices flowing. Hebron, 48, creates metal miniatures of everything from ships to locomotives fighter planes to fire engines to motorcycles.
“I was born three months before World War II ended, which ties me to the mechanical age,” says Hebron. “People bom after 1950 are in the electronic era and may not have the same feeling for mechanical things.”
Altogether, Hebron has created 1500 pieces, some no larger than 3 inches, some up to 7 feet long. He’s done about 200 motorcycles, including the Excelsior racebike and Harley 45 Army bike pictured here. Most of the bikes are between 7 and 8 inches long, all hand-crafted from steel and welding rod. Hebron thinks that the “common man should be able to afford sculpture,” and prices his art accordingly. As little as $90 buys some of the smaller, less complicated machines, while something as involved as a Harley-Davidson with leaning Flxi” sidecar goes for $400. The sculptures are available from Hook Up Enterprises (1100 Wooden Valley Crossroad, Suisun, CA 94585; 707/4225158), and Hebron also accepts commissions for particular bikes starting at about $300. Past customers include Willie G. Davidson, Dick Mann and Joe Leonard.
Don’t expect the finished piece to be a totally faithful reproduction of the original, however. “It takes several weeks to absorb the essential characteristics of the machine,” Hebron explains. “I don’t mathematically figure it out. I eyeball the proportions, leaning toward a characterization. I just do it instinctively.”
The long-time owner of a 1965 Triumph Bonneville, Hebron favors older motorcycles as subjects for his sculptures, but don’t ask him to pick his favorite piece. “They’re all my children,” he says. “Every time I finish one, it’s the best I’ve ever done.” -David Edwards
