Red Crane and Nature Bench

It was quite a surprise to walk into the library meeting room today and see an image (a beautifully painted image) of my red crane. And to top it off, a wonderfully complimentary poem!

Here is how the crane came to be, and be at Grace:

Early in this century, Anna, who had volunteered for years at SAM as an art docent and had her own thriving oil painting practice, encouraged me to pursue some kind of artistic endeavor. So, being a manly-man, I opted to explore welding and forging and took several classes at Pratt. One of our early assignments was to weld an ‘art shape’.

Early in their elementary school life at Blakeley, our daughters had engaged in a cultural exploration of Japan. Our home was soon filled with origami cranes. That was more than a decade prior, but the 1" paper crane was a perfect model for my ‘art shape’ project.

The metal crane I made in class had a wingspan of 6 inches. The instructor suggested I could make one with a 9-foot wingspan! I laughed!

Years later, once I had built a welding shop at our home on Baker Hill, I made that 9-foot crane for our garden. Originally, it ‘flew’. I constructed the base so that the bird could spin.

When I heard that Grace church was sponsoring a ‘peace’ event for Easter (around 2000), I donated the crane to Grace, having welded the mechanism so the bird would be stable. I installed it at the front door.

Years later, when our friend Kathie McCarthy built the labyrinth on the rise above the church parking lot and moved the crane to its present ‘home’.

Other projects involving my welding torch include a bench I made for the Grace church’s nature trail, the tree house sculpture for the Tree House Café, the ‘Elder’s bench’ at the Historical Museum, and my Spokesman bike rack.

In 2015, Anna and I left our home of 30 years and moved to Bozeman, MT. We had one opportunity to be grandparents and are having a ball with our one granddaughter. We have a ‘cottage’ on Grow Ave. and hop back to Bainbridge frequently to see long-time friends (and to be surprised when we visit the library!)

Steve & Anna Neff
Summer 2025