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"ere was a lot of sentiment involved in the dent model, but ultimately they gave me the permission—brave on their part. it was a big challenge to me. But when you feel you can do your best, and that you thrill at these kinds of challenges, then it's exciting. "en creation becomes, and is, a really exciting mys- tery," she continued. "how would i know i could do this statute? i had never even done an 8-foot one before. i didn't know if the big one was going to look as good as an 8-foot sculpture. But there's a way of focusing yourself so you don't get bogged down and limit your creative abil- ity. You allow yourself the freedom to continue to create. You just do it." After studying da Vinci's drawings in more detail and making more of her own meticulous calculations, Akamu had settled on a solid 3-d image in her mind. she didn't own a computer then, much less know how to use the sophisticated electronic drafting programs artists rely on today. But she'd rid- den enough horses in italy to know what she was looking for. "it was riding the Andalusians there that gave me the insight into that sort of horse for leon- ardo da Vinci's," she said. "ere is a history of the iberian horse, of course— a lipizzaner/Andalusian/lusitano type. in the years i rode there, these were the heavier, rounder, roman-nosed Andalusian stock—big arched necks and heavy heads. But they were so marvelous to ride. ey made me look very good!" Akumu created an 8-foot model of anatomical cor- rectness and great energy, a vibrant renaissance stallion, in clay, then cast him in bronze. she called it Homage to Leonardo. en she set to work on the big guy. casTing The Twins how do you shape a 24-foot sculpture? You're either so far away that you can't touch it, or so close to it that you can't see it. grooming The Big horse Though he's strong enough to withstand wind shear and earth- quakes, The American Horse still needs some pampering now and then. "All sculptures that are made of bronze are washed at least once a year in the summer," said Joe Becherer, chief curator of the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. "They're also waxed— actually a bowling alley wax, so it's thin and clear. It's rubbed into the surface of the bronze and buffed out by hand." That process can be tricky in Michigan, where weather can change quickly. "You have to get the temperature right; if it's too cold, the wax gets cakey and looks like an old, glazed donut. But too hot, the wax gets syrupy and drips," said Becherer. "You have to move skillfully and quickly." It usually takes the park's crew a week to complete the clean- ing, because detailed areas like the mane and tail require slow, methodical work, and everything must be done on hydraulic lifts. "Maintenance of the Sculpture Park's bronzes occupies the staff all summer," Becherer said. "Fred [Meijer, the park's name- sake and founder, who died in 2011] loved it because it was the traditional material, and it was going to last." so Akamu made a pantograph—updating with lasers, head- phones and audio an age-old projection method for expanding scale—that traced fixed points on the smaller version. from the ground, she directed assistants who stood on platforms around the emerging giant, built on a steel armature. while much of the model was built again in clay, Akamu also used plaster for broad areas like the flanks. "e plaster model gives a good idea of what a piece might look like," said Becherer. "Also, you can still sand down and build up plaster. it's not flexible like wax or clay, which are malleable. plaster has its own virtues, too. rodin loved everything he did in plaster. he was very hands-off after that—he didn't cast the bronze or carve the marble. he was interested in the plaster." Akamu wanted anatomical correctness, but she also wanted to make sure that anatomy would appear real from any angle—to a viewer standing below on the ground or up on a hill. e per- spective had to be perfect. finally, the giant horse, measuring 24' by 26', trotted in the c h r o n o f h o r s e . c o m ja n ua r y/ f e b r ua r y 2 015 77 iF anyone could com- PleTe da vinci's horse, The com- miTTee Believed, iT was nina akamu.

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