'Perfect is good enough': Husband and wife sculptors reflect on 54 years of work

It's been a relationship forged in bronze.

Don Begg and his wife Shirley have worked side-by-side for 54 years at Studio West Bronze Foundry & Art Gallery, their vast space in Cochrane, Alta., northwest of Calgary.

Their combined works include 160 statues on display throughout Canada, the United States, Germany and France. Hundreds of other smaller pieces have been created for private collectors.

"She'll get in there and do anything that is possible. She'll work on one leg on one side and I'll work on the other leg on the other side. We've worked together for all of our life," Begg told The Canadian Press in an interview.

Among those are the 430-kilogram bronze statue of hockey great Wayne Gretzky holding the Stanley Cup over his head. That piece was on display at Rexall Place in Edmonton and then given a facelift before being placed downtown at Rogers Place, now the Oilers' home arena. 

Statues of Wayne Gretzky sit outside the Wayne Gretzky Sports Centre in Brantford, Ont., on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013. (Lee Boyadjian / CTV Kitchener)

Their most recent high-profile creation was a 2 1/2-metre bronze rifleman, weighing 450-kilograms, dedicated to the soldiers from the Royal Regina Rifles. It was unveiled by Princess Anne in June at la Place des Canadiens in Bretteville-l’Orgueilleuse in France, near the beaches of Normandy. 

It took nine months to complete and cost $300,000.

"It was a real honour to be asked to do it and when the fella phoned and said 'Are you interested?' I didn't even think about it for more than a millionth of a second. I said, 'Absolutely. We're in,'" Begg said.

"What we kind of specialize in is realistic sculptures."

The massive model of the rifleman, covered with an inch of clay over a metal frame, sits in the workshop. 

Others include a First World War soldier and the first immigrants to Western Canada represented by a man in a bowler hat, a woman in a fancy hat, a boy and a girl with pigtails. 

The couple has also specialized in creating Indigenous figures, including a more than three-metre statue of Sitting Eagle, the chief of the Stoney First Nation, in downtown Calgary.

Begg says he is equally proud of all their works.

"They're all favourites. You learn something about every piece and we do bronze work that's going to last for a thousand years, so you always want to do your very best that you can because you won't be around forever to make excuses," he said with a chuckle.

'There's no redo'

Shirley Begg said they won't ever settle for second-best.

"Perfect is good enough. Actually if you were here all day you would hear that perfect is good enough," she said.

"There's no seconds. There's no redo. Perfect is what we aim for and it's the only thing that is acceptable."

In the forge itself, a molten brew of brass ingots bubbles in the crucible before the lava-like liquid is carefully poured into the ceramic shell of the statue. 

It's backbreaking work but Begg said with the use of cranes attached to the ceiling he's still managing.

"Maybe another 25 years," he said.

"Maybe 30. No desire to retire."

Other works include identical statues of Northwest Mounted Police Commissioner James Macleod in both Calgary and Ottawa, four larger-than-life statues of four fallen RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe, Alta. and one depicting Nellie McClung circa 1929, as a member of the "Famous Five” who endeavoured to make women “persons” under the law. 

Begg is to receive the Alberta Order of Excellence in October to celebrate women and men "who have contributed so much for the greater good."

"When they talk about we have about four million people in Alberta now...and they only have about 220 of them...that's quite an honour in itself. I'm looking forward to it," he said.

But in the meantime, he has plenty to do before that happens.

"Probably have about 80 bronzes on order right now so we just keeping plugging away."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 25, 2024.