the patina – the colouring – which is usually a mixture of other metals dissolved in nitric acid. It’s actually more of a ‘controlled corrosion’ process than painting.
DIVER:Where did project funding come from and why was Saltery Bay chosen as the site?
SM: Donations were collected through dive shops and related businesses; the sale of a limited edition print of the mermaid by Lars Justinen raised more as did a raffle and some special events. All funds went to cover the materials and casting costs. I donated 700 hours to the project over two and a half years. As for location the Powell River area – called the ‘Diving Capital of Canada’ - had been decided so Randy Haight and Jim Willoughby scouted many locations for the ideal site that would underscore the region’s claim.
DIVER:Recall the day of the sinking… it must have been a challenge to install your mermaid.
SM: The day of the sinking, March 16th, 1989, was an absolute circus in the best possible way. We had representatives from government, Parks Board and BC Tourism. Safeway brought a huge catering truck and provided hot coffee and hot dogs. The Coast Guard was there, and some jets from Comox did a fly-by with coloured smoke. Bobby Briggs provided a Sea Truck with a
davit to lower her into position. Funny thing – the day before BCTV had filmed me doing the final polishing with 600 grit sandpaper, and the next day we missed the mounting boulder by 50 feet and had to drag her like a 575-pound sack of coal over the hard reef! We had to get her near the mounting boulder, lift her with an air bag and get two pins protruding from her tail to slide into two holes in the boulder. It was a tremendous group effort, and I’m sure everyone involved still remembers it vividly.
DIVER:Te mermaid has been underwater for over 24 years. How many times have you visited her and what feelings have you had about her each time you dive?
SIMON SAYS
My art is of the sea. Drawing from the majesty and grace of the creatures that have mastered the great depths of the oceans, I attempt to capture their spirits in bronze. My sculpture embraces the myth, romance and sacrifice created when man attempts to conquer the sea. Mermaids and mariners, Yin and Yang, danger and desire, these are the passions that draw us, the lucky few that hear the call. Bronze is a magic metal. It’s born of fire, is ageless and true. From my crucible of
dreams come images of reality. Check out
www.sculptorsimonmorris.com In British Columbia, represented exclusively at the Howe Street Gallery of Fine Art in Vancouver.
SM: I think I must have over 30 dives on her. The last was in March, this year. Diving
on the mermaid is an intensely emotional experience for me as she has been such a major part of my life.
DIVER:Years ago you had a freak diving accident. Were you ever worried that you might not be able to dive again, or to visit your mermaid?
anniversary of the discovery of the Cayman Islands by Columbus, and installed in Heroes Square in Georgetown on Grand Cayman. A sculpture of Henry Larsen on the RCMP vessel St. Roch is at the Vancouver Maritime Museum, and two privately owned pieces are in the Gulf Islands, one on dry land, the other in the intertidal zone. My smaller works are mainly marine mammals and divers.
SM: On a routine dive on March 16, 2000, I made a simple mistake after just five minutes at 50 feet (15m) – a faster than normal ascent. I took a decompression hit. The next day I was in the chamber with Mike Lepawski at Vancouver General Hospital. It was a profound and life- changing event for me. I was out of the water, in a great deal of pain and was told I would never dive again. Vern Johnson of Diving Dynamics in Kelowna – five years later – offered his help, giving me treatments at his hyperbaric facility. It helped a great deal. Shortly afterwards I started diving again, but very conservatively. Now I limit myself to a depth of 60 feet (18m) and always dive Nitrox. I went eight years without seeing the mermaid, which was tough.
DIVER:Your bronze art works can be found around the world. Describe some of your other pieces and their inspiration.
SM: I’ve been very fortunate. My work is in private collections and has been installed in public venues, including a second mermaid placed underwater near Sunset House on Grand Cayman Island. Another piece called Tradition was commissioned for the 500th
DIVER:Do you have plans for another major underwater piece?
SM: My next underwater piece is ‘Guardian of the Reef’, a 13-foot (3.9m) tall mythological creature that represents a Greco-Roman sentry in body armour with lance and shield. At the waist, he morphs into a sea horse. His helmet is in the shape of a sea horse skull, his dorsal fin protrudes from the body armour and his tail wraps around a bronze ring mounted on a shattered Roman column. He is aged and beaten; the symbolism is that he has been guarding the ocean for millennia, and it is now our turn to take responsibility. The original clay sculpture was started in 2004 and Divetech, one of Grand Cayman’s leading dive operations, has purchased the first bronze casting for exclusive placement in the Caribbean (see news story this issue). Sculpture is my way to communicate with people about my relationship with the ocean. The moment of unveiling a new piece with hundreds of people waiting, then the hush and finally their reaction is electric for me. Publicity the sculptures receive elevates public awareness of our need to be connected to the sea, and to look after it.
www.divermag.com
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