From propellers to art

Gold Coast artist Frederic Berjot has discovered a new medium for his work thanks to the skills of the craftmen at luxury boat builder Maritimo.

For years Berjot, the visual arts co-ordinator of the upcoming Gold Coast Arts Festival at Southport, has been casting sculptures of the human torso in fibreglass as he believed he would not be able to take his work to new heights by using metal casting without the cost of having it done overseas or interstate.

Staff at Maritimo's foundry, at Molendinar on the Gold Coast, usually spend their time casting propellers and other parts for Maritimo's luxury boats or offshore racing boats.

But they recently made an aluminium casting of one of Berjot's torsos and the artist is delighted. "The workmanship is amazing," Berjot says as he holds the polished aluminum casting. "They are extraordinary craftsmen."

Berjot's work with the foundry began when he commissioned to sculp a memorial to Surfers Paradise beach legend Al Baldwin. For more than 30 years Badwin was the beach's suntan man -- the bloke who sprayed suntan lotion on beach goers.

The solid bronze sculpture of Baldwin's trademark beach chair and cap was poured at the Maritimo foundry. The finished work will be installed on the Surfers Paradise beachfront later this year.

Bejot says that initially he didn't think anyone could cast the chair in soild bronze, the material needed to withstand the rigours of the popular open space. "It is a difficult task but the people at the Maritimo foundry simply said 'no problem"," he says.

The foundry also recently cast two "Artiste" sculptures for Berjot to display at the Gold Coast arts Festival and later at Sydney's Sculpture By The Sea exhibition at Bondi and Tamarama.