Introduction

Let the other angels tell you how to live. I’m telling you where to go! Today, I finally embark on the first of my journeys to faraway places in the U.S. My cartoonist calls it “imaginary”, but that’s the great thing about being an angel. Who’s he to say that I don’t really exist? I could be real. You’re not really going to know until you pass away and make your home in my plane of existence.

“I See What You Mean”

When Ian Morrison of Denver, CO told me about the huge statue of a blue bear outside the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, CO, I just had to fly out there and see it for myself.

After a little over two hours of wing work due west from my home base in Columbus, OH, a approached from the west and saw the back of some big thing leaning up against the glass facade of some building. I stilled my wings and glided down toward it for a closer look.

It was big. 40 feet tall from the crown of its inquisitive head down to hind paws huge enough to crush a Toyota flat. Between forepaws that didn’t quite touch the plate glass, the thing peered inside at visitors from what must’ve been five stories high.

What’s it like to look down on humans from that kind of height? I touched down to light on the huge bear’s left paw and looked into the building myself. I felt kinda like the statue of Nike in the hand of the Athena Parthenos. If you’ve never been to the full scale replica of the Parthenon in Nashville, TN, you probably wouldn’t know what I’m talking about. But that’s another blog for another day.

The bear was built by Lawrence Argent, using a fascinating way of making foam molds for the six pieces directly from digital blueprints in a computer. I guess that’s why the bear seems to be made of little triangles. Argent could have made this bear a little bit more realistic, but he liked the triangles, and he like the blue resin cement that the bear was finally made of, so he made the color part of the final design. The six pieces were shipped in from California in a series of trucks, and assembled at the Convention Center, just like it shows in this video.

If you’re ever in Denver, be sure to swoop by the Convention Center and see this big guy. And prepare to crane your neck.

The big Thanks Yous go to:

Jeff Turner (for the photo from inside)
Rebeka Ceravolo (for the photo from the side)