Three ways to get a statue from us
Every statue on our site comes to you in one of three ways. It is in stock in our Florida warehouse and ships in a few days. It is made to order, cast and painted for you at the workshop and shipped when it is finished. Or it is a custom commission, sculpted from a new model to your design, in resin-fiberglass, bronze, or marble. The statue that arrives is hand-painted in every case; what changes is how long you wait and how much of the design is yours.
The workshop
Our statues are made in the workshop we have worked with for years, where the models are sculpted, the pieces cast, and the painting done under one roof. A statue begins as a clay or plaster model by a sculptor, from which a mold is taken. A resin-fiberglass blend is laid into the mold, cured, and taken out as a raw white figure. The seams from the mold are cut back and sanded smooth, any small voids are filled, and the figure is primed. Only then does it go to the painters.
The resin-fiberglass blend is chosen for a reason. It takes fine detail from the mold, the folds of a mantle and the strands of a beard, better than concrete; it does not absorb water, so it survives outdoors; and it is a fraction of the weight of stone, so a large statue can be shipped across the country and set on a pedestal by two people. It is light enough to move and set without equipment for most sizes, and durable enough that breakage in transit is rare.
The painting
Hand-painted means what it says. There is no printed transfer and no spray-through-a-stencil. A painter works with brushes, building up the colors in layers: the base color of a robe, then the shading in the folds, then the highlights on the ridges, then the trim. Flesh tones are built the same way, and the face is done last and by the most experienced hand in the room, because the face is where a statue succeeds or fails. The eyes are painted individually, which is why no two of our statues have quite the same expression. When the painting is finished, the statue is sealed with a clear protective coat, either for interior placement or for the sun and rain of a garden.
The three finishes
- Standard. Full color, hand-painted, sealed for interior or exterior placement. This is the finish on most of what we sell and the one to choose for any statue that will stand outdoors.
- Fancy. Full color with gold detail: gold on the rays, the halos, the crown, the hem of a mantle, the border of a tunic. It is the finish for a sanctuary, a side altar, or a home altar, and it is an indoor finish. The gold does not tolerate direct sun and rain.
- Monotone. The whole statue in a single tone, so that the form carries the image rather than the color. It suits a modern church, a garden of a single material, or a cemetery, and it is sealed for interior or exterior placement.
The finish is chosen when you order. On product pages that list a Finish option, all three are available; a few statues are made only in one.
In stock, made to order, or custom: what each takes
In stock: three to six business days
A statue marked in stock is on a shelf in Florida, finished, inspected, and ready. It ships within three to six business days of your order, by parcel carrier for anything that fits in a box and by freight for the large pieces. The product page says whether a statue is in stock, and if you need to be certain before a date, call and we will check the shelf.
Made to order: longer, and we tell you how long
A statue that is not on the shelf is made to order: cast, painted, sealed, and shipped from the workshop to us, inspected, and shipped on to you. How long that takes depends on the size, the finish, and the time of year; a small Standard statue is quickest, a large Fancy piece before Christmas slowest. We do not print a single lead time because it would be wrong for half the orders. When you order, or before if you ask, we give you a date we can stand behind. If the date matters, for a feast, a dedication, a funeral, tell us, and we will say plainly whether it can be met.
Custom: about three to five months
A custom statue is one that does not exist yet: a saint we do not carry, a particular pose, a patron of a religious order, a portrait of a founder, or a statue matched to an old one that was lost. A custom commission runs about three to five months from the approved design to delivery. It begins with a conversation about what you want, followed by reference images; then the sculptor prepares a model, which you approve in photographs before anything is cast; then the statue is cast, painted, and shipped. Changes are made at the model stage, where they are easy, not after casting, where they are not. Call (828) 777-4517 to begin; a custom statue is not ordered from a product page.
Bronze and marble
For a plaza, a cemetery, a memorial, or a church that wants a statue for the next century, we also arrange cast bronze and carved marble. Both are quoted individually, because the price depends on the size, the complexity of the figure, and the base, and we would rather give you a real number than a range. The process is the same as a custom resin-fiberglass statue at the front end: design, references, and a model that you approve in photographs before any metal is poured or any stone is cut. Bronze is cast from that model at a foundry; marble is carved by hand from a block, working from the model. Expect three to five months for a bronze or marble commission after the model is approved, and longer for a monumental piece. Bronze and marble statues are shipped crated by freight and set on their base by a rigger or a mason, which we can help you arrange.
How we pack
A statue that arrives broken has failed at everything it was made for, so packing is not an afterthought. Every statue, whatever its size, is wrapped in foam, then set in a box with packing material on every side so that no surface touches the box. Hands, wings, rays, and a raised sword are supported individually. Large statues, and anything going by freight, are crated: a wooden frame is built around the boxed statue, braced so it cannot shift, and the crate rides on a pallet.
When the crate arrives, open it the same day. If a statue has been damaged in transit, photograph it in the packing, keep the box, and call us; a statue damaged in transit is replaced. Damage has to be reported promptly for the carrier's sake, which is the only reason we ask you not to leave the crate in the garage until the feast.
Choosing one
If you need a statue this month, start with what is in stock: the Three Holy Hearts and the 24-inch Sacred Heart of Jesus are home altar pieces that ship in days. If you want gold detail for an indoor altar, the 23-inch Our Lady of Grace in the Fancy finish shows what the finish does on a small figure. If you are planning a plaza or a church entrance, the 86-inch Our Lady of Guadalupe is the size that goes by crate and freight, and the kind of piece to ask us about early, whether in resin-fiberglass or in bronze.
