“Forgotten Hollywood” – The Lucy Makeover…

Posted on August 6, 2016 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

Palmer Lucille Ball for Laura-1[5]-EMBED   Lucille Ball’s hometown of Celoron, New York is welcoming a brand new bronze statue of the famous red head. The unveiling is today on what would have been Ball’s 105th birthday. Sculptor Carolyn Palmer’s version of the actress stands proudly on her Hollywood star, clad in a polka-dot dress, pearls, and heels, with her hair curly and coiffed. The sculptor said the statue is a total of 7-feet tall in its entirety.

   Palmer, who was selected from a national competition of 65 sculptors, said she hasn’t spoken to the sculptor of the Scary Lucy statue, Dave Poulin, but she has sympathy for the criticism he received. The current plan is to relocate Scary Lucy to a different part of Lucille Ball Memorial Park.

   In order to seek inspiration for the bronze statue, Palmer hired models that were Ball’s height — 5’7″ — and bought retro swing dresses and a red wig. In addition to using the models as a creative tool, Palmer stood in front of the mirror and practiced different stances she thought the Ball sculpture could emulate. Palmer also watched multiple episodes of I Love Lucy, including one where Lucy is a sculptor and puts clay all over her face.

   The most painstaking process was creating the polka dots. She did all of the polka dots by hand, rolling out clay and pressing a cap into them, then putting them in the freezer. Palmer worked first with clay, then wax, then eventually the bronze for her final product.

   Palmer said she’s already been getting positive reception from those who’ve taken a peek at the new statue, including a few Celoron residents when the statue was being installed. However, she’s eager to see what the masses will say about her version of the beloved star. Her other works include Pope Francis, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Orville and Wilbur Wright.

   The new statue was shown as part of this year’s Lucille Ball Comedy Festival, which started Friday in nearby Jamestown.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 6th, 2016 at 11:37 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.


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