Local Artist Displays Eagle in Alleghany County Gallery Hosted by Blue Ridge Electric
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Corporate Communications, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager:1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
Sparta, North Carolina (April 25, 2003) – A local artist whose wooden bird sculptures were featured on the 2002 White House Christmas tree is among a number of artists displaying their talents at Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation’s office in Sparta.
Dan Abernathy, a former paratrooper who spent most of his work life in the city planning field before discovering his artistic talents a few years ago, is currently displaying one of his most breathtaking creations: a bald eagle in flight. The realistic creature spans about seven feet across and is carved from four blocks of wood tupelo wood weighing 215 pounds. Its legs and claws are crafted from custom molded brass. The eagle took 470 hours to sculpt, with the project of wood burning to create realistic feathers on his wingspan taking 115 hours.
Abernathy’s majestic bird will eventually land in its future home and permanent perch in Whispering Cove, a rustic mountain retreat being built for pastors, their wives and missionaries in an area south of Waynesville. Surrounded by the Parkway with a view of waterfalls that help generate the facility’s own electricity, the retreat is located on several hundred acres of wilderness. Retreat owners contracted with Abernathy to sculpt the eagle to be suspended in flight from the arched ceiling of the retreat’s main lobby, which is 32 feet high and embedded with 2-feet-wide wooden beam logs. A second-floor mezzanine puts visitors in closer view of the eagle.
“The eagle will appear to be flying to a corner of the ceiling to reach an eagle’s nest resting on one of the wooden beams,” said Abernathy. “It’s symbolic of the journey the pastors, wives and missionaries will have made to come to the retreat for a restful experience,” he explained.
How Abernathy came to create such a realistic image of the American Bald eagle was a journey in itself. For years, he’s sculpted smaller birds such as woodpeckers, finches, chickadees, and cardinals but this was the first eagle he’d ever crafted.
“I started my research last year by asking the North Carolina Raptor Center in Charlotte if I could visit and photograph their eagles—this was where I knew I could safely study and photograph an eagle up close,” said Abernathy. “My time at the Raptor Center was probably the most fascinating part of my research. I needed intricate details and measurements and I was able to get this while the birds were humanely secured during their physicals administered by Raptor Center professionals,” he explained. “I was even able to trace an eagle’s wing span on paper. After completing my time with the Raptor Center and research with the North Carolina Falconer’s Guild, I was able to make an early prototype of the eagle from Styrofoam before beginning the actual sculpting with the wood shipped in from Tupelo.”
The research paid off, as did an investment in quality wood and the time taken to create such a beautiful, realistic eagle. “Most members do a quick double-take when they see the eagle as they come in our door,” said Joe Ward, operations manager of Blue Ridge Electric. “Even though we have many paintings, wood working and other art in our lobby as part of a community service effort, the eagle is special. It’s suspended from our ceiling and it looks very real—as if he’s about to fly away. He’s a beautiful creature, and we’re glad that Blue Ridge Electric is going to be his home until the retreat is ready for him.”
Abernathy, who is also a landscape architect, grew up in Valdese, North Carolina, and spent most of his career years in Florida where he also served as a city commissioner and as a member of the state’s board of landscape architects. For the past five years he and his wife, Kathryn, have lived on their farm in Alleghany County—an area he “fell in love with” nearly 20 years ago during a trip to the county. The Abernathy’s both attended the John Campbell Folk School, with his wife learning to play the dulcimer and Abernathy learning to carve.
What began as a hobby for Abernathy has turned into a full-time profession. A member of the Southern Highlands Craft Guild, his work has been accepted into art shows such as the Folk Art Center in Asheville and most recently at the Winter Haven, Florida, art show. He is regularly commissioned to carve pieces ranging in price from $450 to $3,500.
While Abernathy fell into sculpting birds by accident after becoming intrigued by a Chickadee that had the unfortunate experience of flying into the glass door of his Alleghany County home, he says sculpting some of God’s smallest and most delicate creatures is not that far removed from the work he’s done all his life.
“City planning requires a lot of design skills, as does working as a landscape architect,” Abernathy explained. “So sculpting birds from wood has come naturally and I certainly hope to continue carving many more.”
To reach Dan Abernathy at his company, “A Bird in Hand”, call 336-372-2285.
To view for a limited time his eagle in the Blue Ridge Electric office in Sparta, visit the facility at 1889 Highway 21 South.
