Gallery 54 artist makes it BIG

Jay Seaman and his eagle

There's more than one way someone can interpret the phrase "making it big" and, when applied to the latest piece of metal sculpted Jay Seaman, both are appropos. Jay, whose work has long been exhibited and available for purchase at Gallery 54 in Skaneateles, not only sculpts very large pieces of various metals, his work is fast becoming a cause celebre as evidenced in the newly landed American Bald Eagle at the Montezuma Wildlife Refuge, near Seneca Falls, NY.

On Tuesday, October 11, with the assistance of the refuge staff, the eagle "landed"  and Jay's reputation as a fine art metal sculptor took off . . . to even greater heights than before. Now Jay's bald eagle overlooks New York State's "main street," the Thomas E. Dewey Thruway, from its perch in the refuge.

The Eagle, just before "landing" at Montezuma
Wildlife Refuge

With a wingspan of 22-feet and weighing in at 1,300 pounds, Jay's eagle stands as a tribute to the efforts the refuge has made in the recovery of "America's bird" from near extinction in Upstate New York.

Jay began work on his large masterpiece early in Spring this year and was on hand to secure his creation into position in the wildlife refuge.  "We started out," recalls Seaman, "planning to sculpt a 10-foot eagle." Behind his home in Trumansburg, NY, he admits to having taken "some artist's license." As the individually hand-cut and hand-forged feathers began to pile up, he finally arrived at the point where each feather would be welded to the sculpture. That's when the eagle really spread its wings.

The Eagle lands at Montezuma 

An American Bald Eagle sculpted by Jay Seaman

To see more of Jay's creations visit Gallery 54, at 54 E. Genesee St. in Skaneateles, NY. The gallery is open Sunday through Thursday from 10 am to 5 pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm.