Earlier this year, Rush's Neil Peart was honoured with the naming of a pavilion in his old stomping grounds of St. Catharines, and a sculptor in Newfoundland is hoping his statue of the late drumming icon will soon call the area home as well.
St. John's-based sculptor Morgan MacDonald has spent the time since Peart's passing designing a sculpture of the drummer and primary lyricist. Online, he has teased the making of a clay maquette of Peart and his drums in a series of photos and short clips, telling the broadcaster that he has put about 1,000 hours into the design.
As MacDonald told the CBC, St. Catharines city council has called for designs on additions that could be added to the newly renamed Neil Peart Pavilion at Lakeside Park.
"They're hoping this is the design that's picked, but again you're working with a city council that has a committee formed, a task force that has a certain number of people on it that will actually go through the submitted designs, and then that will be the piece that is put there," MacDonald explained. "It's quite exciting to see the interest around this. I'm looking forward to the process."
MacDonald told CBC that Peart's death in January was "a bit of a shock" being a longtime fan of the revered power trio.
"[Rush] went out on a limb, and they did things that were unorthodox, and the amount of travelling, and the kind of suffering they went through for their art and never getting the recognition, it was quite late in life when the recognition started to pour in," he said of the band.
"But the music, for us, it's kind of the gold standard of technicality, expression and just excellence."
A peek at MacDonald's Instagram account shows he's also been at work on sculpting another Canadian arts legend in Leonard Cohen. You can catch a few looks at his Peart in progress below.
Peart passed away in January following a battle with brain cancer. He was 67.
St. John's-based sculptor Morgan MacDonald has spent the time since Peart's passing designing a sculpture of the drummer and primary lyricist. Online, he has teased the making of a clay maquette of Peart and his drums in a series of photos and short clips, telling the broadcaster that he has put about 1,000 hours into the design.
As MacDonald told the CBC, St. Catharines city council has called for designs on additions that could be added to the newly renamed Neil Peart Pavilion at Lakeside Park.
"They're hoping this is the design that's picked, but again you're working with a city council that has a committee formed, a task force that has a certain number of people on it that will actually go through the submitted designs, and then that will be the piece that is put there," MacDonald explained. "It's quite exciting to see the interest around this. I'm looking forward to the process."
MacDonald told CBC that Peart's death in January was "a bit of a shock" being a longtime fan of the revered power trio.
"[Rush] went out on a limb, and they did things that were unorthodox, and the amount of travelling, and the kind of suffering they went through for their art and never getting the recognition, it was quite late in life when the recognition started to pour in," he said of the band.
"But the music, for us, it's kind of the gold standard of technicality, expression and just excellence."
A peek at MacDonald's Instagram account shows he's also been at work on sculpting another Canadian arts legend in Leonard Cohen. You can catch a few looks at his Peart in progress below.
Peart passed away in January following a battle with brain cancer. He was 67.
