Haven't signed into your Scholastic account before?
Teachers, not yet a subscriber?
Subscribers receive access to the website and print magazine.
You are being redirecting to Scholastic's authentication page...
Announcements & Tutorials
Renew Now, Pay Later
Sharing Google Activities
2 min.
Setting Up Student View
Exploring Your Issue
Using Text to Speech
Join Our Facebook Group!
Subscriber Only Resources
Access this article and hundreds more like it with a subscription to Scholastic Art magazine.
Article Options
Presentation View
Chess Mates
How do the artists create the sculptures’ realistic texture?
The botanical gardens in Carefree, Arizona are now home to an unlikely pair of chess players. A 9-foot-tall elephant named Chessie Trunkston and a tiny field mouse named Hershel Higginbottom—each a hand-carved sculpture—contemplate their next moves.
Officials from the small desert town recently invited artists Ray Villafane and Sue Beatrice to carve the artwork using river silt, a type of sediment. The team used 60,000 pounds of silt to sculpt the charming elephant and mouse. The fine silt allows the artists to sculpt realistic details—from the rough wrinkles on Chessie’s trunk to Hershel’s delicate fur. The artists use a spray solution of water and glue to hold the sculptures together.
Villafane explains that Carefree’s botanical gardens are “a playground and inspiration.”
Article Type