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Armed
with buckets of goo two Christchurch women are immortalising the
hands of our sporting heroes, creating up-market collectors' pieces
that sell for thousands of dollars. |
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Sculptors
Delia Riley (right) and Jo Arbuckle have successfully persuaded
rugby legends like Colin Meads, Tane Norton and Billy Bush, golfer
Sir Bob Charles and cricketer Nathan Astle to plunge their paws -
grasping ball, club or bat - into the rubbery moulding mix. |
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The
goo sets in under a minute so they mix it on the spot, carting along
buckets and moulding powders, and doing the business in some odd
places - motel rooms, airports and in Charles' case in the pro shop
at Christchurch's swanky Clearwater golf club. |
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Calling
their business Immortaleyes they're unashamedly aiming at serious
investors. Arbuckle claims the high end of the sporting memento
market is crying out for something a little more edgy than signed
balls or rugby jerseys. With a replica hand, fans are "getting a
part of that person forever, not just a signature". |
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Pine
Tree Meads dunked his digits in an Auckland hotel, and amid much
hilarity Arbuckle describes the reaction of a porter who carried
their gear up to the room. "He said. 'I hope you enjoy your
stay' and Colin said. 'Oh. we're only here for an hour' then went
into the bathroom. The porter looked at us in disgust and when Colin
came out we said. 'We hope we haven't ruined your reputation'." |
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Limited
editions of Meads' hand holding a rugby ball have fetched up to
$12.000 at charity auctions, and in November two Meads replicas will
be auctioned in London to raise money for injured rugby players. |
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Back
in Arbuckle's spartan suburban Parklands garage-cum-studio the two
former nurses produce silicon moulds from the hand impressions, then
make resin replicas. Painted silver or bronze the finished sculptures
are mounted and framed with accompanying signature, a photograph and
brief Biography. A comer of Arbuckle's lounge doubles as a gallery,
transformed for the purpose during an appearance on Changing Rooms. |
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The
business sprang from a hobby two and a half years ago after Arbuckle
and Riley saw torso sculptures at a Nelson craft market. Rather than
buy one they decided to have a go at making their own and the stone
plaster sculptures rapidly found willing buyers. |
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During
experimentation they used each other as models and cajoled their
partners, children (five between them aged six to 12) and even
Arbuckle's family dog into posing (paws only). |
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Torsos
cost upwards of $850 and they've made about 40 to date in what is an
incredibly messy process. The model is slathered in the rubbery mix
and has to stand still for about an hour while it dries. Arbuckle
says thankfully the residue washes off in water. "We end up with
it all over us and all over them. You get it in your hair and for
days afterwards you keep finding bits." People get torsos made
as gifts for their partners and Riley says they're not above doing a
bit of painless cosmetic surgery if customers so desire. "We can
take the bulge off your tummy. It's amazing what taking a few
millimetres off in certain places will do. With the painting what you
choose to highlight and what you choose to keep dark makes a big difference.'' |
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And
no they most definitely do not make replicas of other... er...
appendages. "We won't go there." |
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Initially
the pair thought they'd stick with producing stylish torsos, cute
copies of babies' hands and feet or romantic replicas of newly wed
couples clasping hands. Once they were called on to make a mould in
the middle of a wedding ceremony, popping out with their bucket of
goo wearing smart pinstriped pinnies over their posh frocks. |
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However,
a commission to immortalise the hands of rugby greats for
Christchurch sports bar The Holy Grail convinced them to focus on
sporting mementoes. They quickly learned per-severance and a bit of
cheek paid dividends. After hearing former Australian rugby league
captain Mal Meninga was opening a new show home nearby, the two
fronted up with samples of their work in the boot of the car and
persuaded him to literally lend a hand. |
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Riley
says every hand is different. Older ones have more character and
texture, while former English rugby captain Martin Johnson has the
longest fingers she's ever seen. |
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"Your
hand tells your life story. Colin Meads has a wee nodule on his
knuckle from when he had rheumatic fever as a child. He's a worker,
he's got farmer's hands, and people go, 'Wow, they're so big'." |
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The
sportsperson gets a free sculpture and also receives royalties on
each sale. With international markets in their sights, Arbuckle is
confident they can cope with most sporting codes, except perhaps
tennis. "I'm not sure how we'd do the strings on the racket but
I'm sure we could come up with something." |
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