Since today is Veterans Day, I thought that it would be great to honor SSgt. Reckless, a Mongolian mare that served in the Korean War. The statue of her was dedicated on July 26, 2013 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. Camp Pendleton, San Diego California and Korea are two future sites for two more monuments .I would like to tell you a little bit more about her and the people that created her monument!
First, Meet Team Reckless!!
Jocelyn Russell~
Location: San Juan Island (in the Pacific Northwest)
Jocelyn Russell was born and raised in the San Luis Valley in beautiful Colorado. The baby of five children, she was allowed to join Mom in the studio after the older kids were sent off to school. Jocelyn dabbled with all forms of art material, but not crayons or play-doh. She had the real thing… paints and clay!
With a father and three brothers who hunted regularly, wild game was the usual fare at the Russell table. She often helped with the processing of the game, poking and prodding at all the extra animal ‘parts` discarded in the scrap box… a child`s first hand study of animal anatomy. Not your normal dainty little girl, Jocelyn could be found knee deep in mud in the local drain ditches and ponds, chasing minnows, crayfish, and anything else that moved. This was much to the dismay of her mother, who finally designated Wednesday the one day her ‘tom-boy` daughter HAD to wear a dress to grade school. Ick!
Jocelyn dragged home anything that pertained to an animal, including hair, horns and skulls. Her childhood menagerie of live animals consisted of a donkey, goats, chickens, bunnies, birds, squirrels, turtles… and of course, a few minnows in a little fish bowl in the bathroom.
At age twelve, she landed a job with a local veterinarian, with the unglamorous task of keeping the dog kennels free of… doggie-doo. Proving she was not afraid of a little ‘poo’, she worked her way up into a hands-on position, participating in all aspects of the business, including assisting during surgeries. It was the highlight of her youth, and after fourteen years on the job, her love of animals and anatomy was cemented. Beginning art as a full time career in 1992, her paintings and bronzes have since generated thousands of dollars for conservation organizations. Sculpting nearly full time now, she works on pieces from miniature to monumental.
Her life is full and fantastic, and dedication to research has taken her to many destinations, including Patagonia, Costa Rica, Alaska and an undeniably favorite…. Africa. Now living on San Juan Island in the Pacific Northwest, Jocelyn has found the rainy days of winter a welcome respite from the blowing snow of the San Luis Valley, and enjoys creating new pieces by the warmth of a wood stove (which her husband, Michael, keeps stoked daily during the long winters). She has attained international recognition for her paintings and sculptures both, and enjoys the versatility of tackling many subjects and mediums to keep her inspirations alive~
Here we go with the photos of the miniature version of the monument!!
It all starts with vision, and a wire armature of a miniature version of the future monument.
After approval of the maquette, a mold is made and through the ‘lost wax method’, a bronze casting is made. It is necessary to cast this ‘maquette’ in multiple pieces to get a clean and detailed replica of the original clay sculpture.The raw bronze assembled and polished, before the patina (color) is appliedWith a torch and application of chemicals, the color is developed and then sealed with a marine-grade lacquer.The first maquette of SSgt Reckless was cast without her tack and ammo (the ‘naked’ or ‘bare’ version)o make the miniature sculpture of Reckless (maquette) with her tack and ammo, I had a resin replica poured out of the same mold the foundry used to cast the naked version of Reckless. The resin is hard and will not gouge or mar during the sculpting of the delicate straps and buckles. I used a combination of wooden dowel and brass tubing for the canisters. The dowel fit perfectly inside the tube and allowed me to taper and contour the end caps. -Sgt Reckless- The Making of the Monument
The foam is cut to size, but only has rudimentary details. It’s Jocelyn’s job to sand and refine the surface to bring in the muscle and definition.
Of course the cat cannot resist inspection (OK… Jocelyn put her up there, but she seemed to appreciate her new vantage point.)
Robin takes a flight to our island to take part in the ‘hands-on’ aspects of the project. She now officially claims this as” her tail”! Well earned, Robin!Again, a great advantage of the lightweight foam enlargement is to segment the project into smaller projects than can be brought into my smaller (and warmer!) studio and worked on in detail.Kind of odd to see her head attached to a board, but It would be easier to flip that board around at all angles and work on all aspects of her head .A toast with Harold Wadley’s plum wine…to a few hard days in the shop before Robin heads back to California. Thanks Robin, you were a shot in the arm!!A highlight of the project, Harold located a packsaddle similar to what Reckless used. He then carefully created some mock canisters and then lashed them on as he remembers her being tied in Korea during her hard service. This saddle was absolutely invaluable during the sculpting, as few photos showed the extensive detail needed for the project. Of course the next obstacle was how to fabricate a horse to cinch it to…a thrift store blanket over a bag of packing peanuts!Our local friend and amazing farrier, Tom Carter. He came by to inspect her hooves and gave pointers on the shoes that she likely wore in service. From the photos, he determined that she had a protective ‘toe clip’ in the front of the shoe, and advised me of the difference in the shape of her front shoes compared to her back shoes. Thanks, Tom!I used shipping tubes and wetsuit material to fabricate the canisters and packsaddle straps. Add a bit of cardboard and some spit, and walaaa! She’s loaded!At this point, Reckless was precariously perched on a narrow cart on swivel wheels… with a center support of 1″ conduit and about 150 pounds of clay hovering at more than eight feet from the floor. After this photo, I carefully began to disassemble the sculpture, head, neck and tail off first. Then with the base removed, I lowered her body down to easily reach the canisters and ropes to finish the details.The base under Reckless was signed and a few more initials were added in honor of Team Reckless. These included the initals of Robin Hutton (shown here), Harold Wadley, Bob Rogers, and Debbie McCain (who remembers taking care of Reckless as a young girl at Camp Pendleton after Reckless retired to the United States)The hard part…. the complete disassembly of Reckless and crating her for safe transportation to my foundry in Colorado. The crating was almost more difficult than the sculpting, as I had to make sure she was suspended and/or bubble wrapped so the delicated clay was not damaged. Notice her head and legs/tail on the counter.The body is suspended in the crate with allthread from all angles. All of the extra ‘parts’ now get bubble wrapped, blanketed, and/or stuffed into the extra spaces.In a matter of minutes after arrival, the guys had the 500lb crate rolled up on the truck.And she was gone….
Reckless is assembled, sandblasted and nearing completion. It seems fast and easy, but this is about a four month project for the foundry alone.This is the natural color of raw bronze. I think it is really beautiful, but unfortunately, it does not maintain the delicate soft lustre for long. It soon darkens and ‘tarnishes’, eventually turning green from the copper content in the metal. The patina helps seal and protect the surface, and a final coat of wax ensures a long life for an outdoor installation.The guys at Art Castings apply a wash of potash, which turns the metal blackish. They then scrub back the highlights, leaving the straps and recesses dark for contrast.After a good rinse, the bronze is heated up with a torch and ferric nitrate is carefully applied in layers to build up a rich gold, to red, to brown color. The buckles and highlights are then buffed off for a little ‘bling’.Art Castings… a top notch foundry for a difficult project. Thank you everyone!Thank you Shipper’s Supply for an amazing crate job, and FedEx for complimentayr delivery to Manassas, Virginia to the landscaper (Kline Memorial) for installation. Fred Smith and his wife of FedEx also donated to the monument project and share their name on her donor plaque.Rick Burroughs and his crew do a superb job of landscaping as well as making and drilling the pedestal for the monument.She weighs about 1200 pounds, but is skillfully balanced for placement.The last straps come off!Robin, Jocelyn and Harold.Jocelyn at the unveiling !! That must have been a LOT of fun!!!Robin Hutton, author of “SSgt Reckless: Amarica’s War Horse”. A must read!Harold gives the order to unveil Reckless
Debbie McCain and General Amos. The inset shows Debbie as a young girl with her Daddy, Colonel ‘Jinx’ McCain, holding Reckless and one of her foals at the Camp Pendleton Stables in California. Debbie donated a horse shoe and some hair for the museum display, and also has her initials on the base of the monument.A bit of fun posing at the interior display. Thank you Lin and crew for a fantastic exhibit to honor RecklessMichael, Jocelyn, Robin and Karen (Robin’s college room mate) drinking a toast to success! If the folks at the Marine Museum ask, this was non-alcohol(ic) wine! After all, no booze on the grounds! And we didn’t spill a drop!
If you would like to read more about SSgt Reckless, check out Robin Huttons Book!!
Thanks to these wonderful people, SSgt. Reckless’s memory will live on for many years to come~
Even though I never met my grandfather, he was a POW in the Korean War. Remember those lost this Veterans day.
Shya~
Huh? What? Well, I will believe that when I see flying Shetlands !
Art Of The Horse 
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