A Chilliwack artist, whose larger-than-life metal sculptures can be seen from blocks away, is looking for a buyer for a falcon he just completed after the event where he was hoping to sell the piece got cancelled.
Kevin Stone just finished ‘Bird of Prey’ a 28-foot wide, 3,000-pound shiny, stainless steel falcon.
The sculpture was supposed to be transported right around this time to Las Vegas for the Big Boys Toys show, a lavish-lifestyle exhibition that displays the world’s most innovative and luxurious products and services.
Items like custom cars, yachts, airplanes, luxury vacations and robots can be found there.
“If you’ve got money, this is the show to be at,” Stone said. “It was a huge opportunity for me. That’s why I did such a big stainless piece again.”
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He made the falcon specifically for the show in Vegas, but due to COVID-19, it was cancelled.
Now, Stone is hoping to find someone or some business with an extra $350,000 to spare on the stunning stainless steel sculpture.
“We’re looking to recoup our money back and have a piece installed locally, hopefully.”
Over the years, he’s built three large eagles, a dragon, plus a bunch of “smaller” pieces about 12 to 15 feet in size.
Countless hours go into making each sculpture and each one starts with searching for images online.
“Then I take those pictures and print them and I go down and start building. And that’s it,” he said with a laugh.
Once he finds the image of the perfect pose and has an idea of what to build then it’s “kind of just in my head,” Stone said.
He started the falcon back in January where construction began with the frame which is made of stainless steel pipe. He then builds the pieces that go on top of the frame, attaches them and welds them into place.
Stone blends each weld which is done by grinding the metal down in several stages – similar to sanding wood. The blending is done so people can’t see where it was welded.
The stainless steel he uses is of high quality. It’s the same metal used as for surgical instruments and the food industry.
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For the falcon, he bent and rolled pieces of metal for parts of the bird like its legs, and then cut dozens of small, half-inch pieces off a solid hexagonal bar to attach to the legs as well.
The bird is even designed to come apart.
“The wings have lifting points and they just slide out. When you’re ready to install it, they just slide back in.”
It was made that way so it could be transported in sections on two travel trailers down to Las Vegas for the Big Boys Toys show.
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Stone has been making large metal sculptures like the falcon for 15 years, but his other line of work is building custom hotrods.
He opened his business, Stone’s Speed Shop, about eight years ago and since then has been making smaller sculptures on the side.
Before he opened his shop, his time was entirely spent building sculptures like an 85-foot dragon which was showcased at the PNE in 2011, and three large eagles including a 55-foot rusted-metal bald eagle that was shipped to Dollywood in Tennessee in 2012.
READ MORE: Steely nerves needed for dragon transport
READ MORE: Kevin Stone has created a massive bald eagle sculpture for Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park
Around the same time he was starting up his hotrod business he was also battling with investors over three of those huge pieces.
The first one tried to steal his 31-foot eagle, but Stone got it back and ended up selling it to a private buyer. The second investor still has two of his pieces at his home in Abbotsford – a 40-foot eagle, and his dragon.
Those battles are behind him now and he’s looking for a buyer, ideally in Chilliwack, for his newest piece Bird of Prey.
“I know a lot of people want to see at least one of my pieces stay here because they’ve all gone [to other cities].”
Anyone interested in looking at the falcon (whether they have $350,000 or not) can view it Monday to Friday outside Stone’s Speed Shop at 45920 Rowat Ave. in Chilliwack.
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