Labour of love<\/p>\n
Like all of Worsley\u2019s unique creations, the cow has been a labour of love. <\/p>\n
Eighteen months ago, he received a \u201cwish list\u201d from the farmer client for a Friesian cow with a friendly face and a good udder.<\/p>\n
Worsley\u2019s initial research involved photographs from the farm and online.<\/p>\n
All the required materials were on hand, in his yard or via a scrap dealer in Hamilton.<\/p>\n
The \u201cbig bits\u201d included a bathtub, metal table bases and old plough discs.<\/p>\n
White parts of the Friesian\u2019s coat were created from new sheets of stainless-steel plate.<\/p>\n
Worsley said an A4 sketch of the cow became a full-size picture, then a wire frame.<\/p>\n
The latter was removed as he bent, twisted and shaped the assorted pieces of metal, welded together from the hooves up. <\/p>\n
\u201cI polish and grind it as I go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When finished, Worsley sprinkled the sculpture with water for five days until the non-stainless parts began to rust, creating the required black and white colouration.<\/p>\n
This is further highlighted by masking the white sections and adding black dye to the balance.<\/p>\n
The cow has been a labour of love for Adrian Worsley. Photo \/ Steve Edwards<\/p>\n
Final act<\/p>\n
The final act saw the piece lacquered by a Te Aroha contractor.<\/p>\n
Worsley said the sculpture was completely hollow, with its shell 6mm thick.<\/p>\n
As with the Matamata racehorse, he has erred on the side of greater size rather than more normal dimensions for the cow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe client didn\u2019t specify dimensions, but I always like to go big if possible,\u201d Worsley said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey just look more eye-catching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of the time and effort involved, he does become attached to such large-scale projects. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is hard to let go,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A big music fan, Worsley named the cow \u201cSharona\u201d after a song My Sharona by 1980s band The Knack.<\/p>\n
He is in a \u201cgood space\u201d in the gallery when listening to his favourite industrial rock performers such as Marilyn Manson, Ministry and Nine Inch Nails.<\/p>\n
Father\u2019s basement<\/p>\n
The 56-year-old grew up in Te Aroha and began \u201cplaying around with bits of pipe, timber, nuts and bolts\u201d in his father\u2019s basement at a young age.<\/p>\n
This extended to making trolleys and motorbikes. <\/p>\n
\u201cI always just loved making stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Rather surprisingly, Worsley didn\u2019t take metalwork or woodwork at college, but did attain an A-plus in art.<\/p>\n
He left secondary school at 15 and worked on a dairy farm near Te Aroha. <\/p>\n
At 18, he joined a trailer builder in the town, becoming a fitter\/welder.<\/p>\n
Worsley then had a stint with a specialist stainless steel company in Te Aroha, and along the way, taught himself woodwork and metalwork, including furniture-making and kitchen fitouts. <\/p>\n
This saw him go out on his own as a cabinetmaker.<\/p>\n
His first job was a rustic fitout of Ironique Cafe in Te Aroha.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was nothing like that around,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe business went ballistic.\u201d<\/p>\n
He operated workshops in Te Aroha and Queenstown, but \u201cpulled back\u201d to concentrate on his signature sculptures.<\/p>\n
First piece<\/p>\n
A motorcycle for an exhibition in Hamilton was his first piece. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere wasn\u2019t a single motorbike part in it,\u201d Worsley said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was all bits off farms…fence standards, milking machines and shovels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The inaugural piece sits among a weird and wonderful collection of metal objects and artwork in his gallery.<\/p>\n
Picture a slightly tidier version of Steptoe & Son\u2019s yard from the old classic British TV comedy series.<\/p>\n
Worsley said he loved including items in his sculptures which people can instantly recognise, from hot water cylinders to frying pans and golf clubs.<\/p>\n
Well-categorised<\/p>\n
Despite the deliberately dishevelled appearance, material stored for future projects is well-categorised in Worsley\u2019s workshop.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know where to lay my hands on something when it is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The need arises when he is commissioned by a client to produce a piece.<\/p>\n
Worsley said this mostly came from word of mouth. <\/p>\n
He also hosts group tours of his gallery by arrangement.<\/p>\n
By the end of the year, Worsley will have completed a bike-stand, including a large bull\u2019s head, as a memorial to a Te Aroha pedigree stud farmer.<\/p>\n
This will be included in his already impressive collection of pieces along Te Aroha\u2019s main street.<\/p>\n
Worsley has also put together a steampunk-themed sculpture \u2013 an octopus in the shape of a penny farthing bicycle \u2013 for the Hauraki Rail Trail in Thames.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labour of love Like all of Worsley\u2019s unique creations, the cow has been a labour of love. Eighteen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180497,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[50503,93609,1228,442,498,499,500,2372,5276,33118,501,156,3233,71,13313,50242,700,1614,111,139,69,33239,39706,37514,19554,8690,61,34355,58228,14047,114868],"class_list":["post-180496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-adrian","tag-aroha","tag-art","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-board","tag-cow","tag-creative","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-farm","tag-from","tag-giant","tag-highly","tag-latest","tag-metal","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-philosophy","tag-scraps","tag-sculptor","tag-taken","tag-te","tag-to","tag-trash","tag-treasure","tag-way","tag-worsleys"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}