The Making Of Jessie

Our update on the making of Jessie shares the news that the beautiful work of art by sculptor Cantey Tomlinson Kelleher has been completed and is ready to leave for the foundry. The lifesize statue of a precious little girl reading her favorite book will grace the front lawn of the Blowing Rock Community Library, a tribute to Cantey’s aunt, Grace Carr, a loyal and dedicated volunteer and librarian at the library for years prior to her death in September of last year. Working from studios in her home in Charlotte and in the High Country Cantey used two models in building Jessie, named in honor of her niece whose face she used for the sculpture. Now that the real Jessie has grown to an adult, the body of Jessie was formed by the artist through a number of sittings by Blowing Rock’s own Wesley Harwood. The photographs on this page capture the various phases of Jessie’s creation from the photograph of the real Jessie to the completed sculpture. Cantey magnificent sculpture will be presented to the citizens of Blowing Rock in loving memory of Grace Carr around mid to late summer of this year. Assisting the artist on the project is Michael Dolanger.