The Eagles have landed

This beautiful sculpture has moved from the Lagoons Café at the Botanic Gardens to reside in the newly opened Mackay Entertainment and Convention Centre (M.E.C.C.).

Previously, a Red Bean Stump, the wood, which is very toxic to work with, was transformed by Adriaan Vanderlugt and his assistant Glenn Gospel to become a series of Sea Eagles.
Some of the carved images are eagles in flight while a large eagle’s head is a focal point.
Many people may recall seeing Adriaan and Glenn working on the sculpture at Canelands Shopping Centre and in a shop site in City Heart during the Centenary of Federation Whitsunday and Coast to Coal Sculpture Symposium in 2001. The Eagles also roosted for a time at the Gordon White Library.

The Red Bean tree  - Dysoxylum rufum - a beautiful rainforest wood has a special link to the Mackay region. Red Bean is a local rainforest tree found at Eungella. The Sea Eagles sculpture was created from the last stump removed from Eungella when the rainforest logging there ceased in 1993.  At the lower front of the sculpture, Adriaan retained the markings that verify the history of the stump. The Crown stamps indicate accredited harvesting. The “4Y” mark belonged to Scotty McVeigh and the “24” Mark belonged to Russell Vance. The painted number “12” was the lot number allocated, when the stump was purchased by Trevor Smith of Eungella.

Staff from the Botanic Gardens and the MECC joined forces with Adriaan Vanderlugt to achieve a safe flight for the Sea eagles to their new vantage point.

Should you require further details on this or other sculptures by the artist Adriaan Vanderlugt, he is happy to correspond via e-mail…vanderlugt@dodo.com.au

Contact: Maya Harrison

Phone: 49527300

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