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Anyone who is a part of Vermont College knows that in residency you pick your advisor.  I had planned on culminating with Charlotte Hastings.  Coming to residency to enter my culminating semester and trying to find someone to be my advisor seemed futile.  No one was Charlotte.  I soon realized that I needed to work with Blythe because Blythe was close to Charlotte.  Now this seems strange but working with Blythe brings me closer to Charlotte and in turn helps me to find Dick.  Wow, I have a hard time even understanding that, but I know that it is true.

In the October 05 residency I went to visit Ruth, Dick’s wife, to tell her about the sculpture.  My instructor Charlotte Hastings came with me. While there I took this photograph.

 I was told that this is the chair where Dick corrected the packets for the ADP program.  To me this chair is as much a photograph and a part of Dick as a picture of his face. 

This is the beginning of searching for the spirit of Dick Hathaway.

While there, Charlotte told Ruth about the sculpture.  I held Ruth’s hand and promised I would try to do him justice.  I think I heard her say, “I know.”  Her eyes twinkled, we both cried.

Though it took some doing I was able to get into Dick Hathaway’s office just before leaving the spring residency.  I actually visited twice.  My first visit was in the morning to scope things out before a meeting.  My goal was to find the memorial photographs that Charlotte had promised to copy.

Sarah Hooker from Goddard College, had been in charge of the memorial photographs and had explained that they were in a brown hamper in Dick’s office. I was ecstatic when we found them and now I had to come back to be alone with these photographs. I also brought my digital camera to take some photographs of things that were Dicks.

“A first edition of pilgrims progress,” my friend who brought the scanner proclaimed.  I was in awe at all of these old things. They seem to carry so much emotion and a special presence, but my infatuation was with Dick.  She asked if I would be all right in the office by myself.  I am not sure why she was concerned.  I was ecstatic to spend time alone in the room.

After she left I took a picture of the Christmas lights that were hanging from the book shelves. Other students had told me stories about these lights. I wandered through, looking at books, and taking pictures of the bookshelves. Though the collection of Dick’s books had been sold, and I am sure much had been removed, Dick was still there.  I marveled at the collection of things. It made me long for more time with him while he was on this earth, or to have had the honor of having been one of Dick’s students.

I was unable to get permission to remove the pictures so a friend had loaned me her scanner. The scanner was slow, so scanning the memorial photographs took a long time.  It felt funny to have this Macintosh, scanner and digital camera amongst all of those historical things.

  While alone in the room something did fall or was moved.  Most people would have jumped, I did not even flinch, although now I wish I would have noted what was moved or had fallen but I was too enthralled with the photographs.

There were photographs of Dick at all angles, some full figure, some just a face.  I was glad for everything I could find.  No matter how many references I have, I will never have enough. Halfway through the box I came upon another picture of Charlotte.  It was at a commencement of sorts and all of the instructors were standing together.  Oddly enough, everyone was looking off camera except for Charlotte who stared right at the camera and in turn at me. “I know honey, I’m working on it, thanks for helping get into the office,” I said.  To me another simple confirmation that Charlotte was watching.

The last photograph that I came upon once again startled me.  It was not of Dick at all, but of Charlotte. She was with Ruth, just like she had been the last time we had seen each other.  Touching the picture I cried.

Call them coincidences, some people would, I have accepted them as something else.  They are the little things that I see happen while working with posthumous sculpture.  My entire three semesters and the book that I am writing “Bringing to Life the Spirit of the Deceased—A Sculptor’s Journey.” is about the process and those little nuances.  It has been a difficult and weird thing for me to even think; do I communicate with the dead?  I know there is a connection, I don’t see the deceased, until I have pulled them from the clay, but I do sense things. 

            I asked one of my clients how they felt about the entire idea.  Ellie’s mom said she knew I had a connection and felt a bit jealous.  (photograph of posthumous sculpture of Ellie. 

I have found that often I know things about the pose or the family, little things, Mostly it is something that I feel emotionally.  They are things that I would not otherwise know.

For example, I try to have someone pose for each sculpture.  I need concrete reference so I usually try and find someone about the same size to pose in the clothes that are provided. For Patsy’s sculpture her best friend flew down from Vegas to pose. When the photographs were developed I looked at the photographs and said, “This is not how Patsy would sit.”  I had already begun the sculpture but called the family to ask them if I could change the pose.  They told me they were thinking of calling me and asking me to change it, that I was right.  How did I know this?  I had never met Patsy.

             With the sculpture of Jeanine I had three days where I felt a tremendous amount of feeling of pride over Jeanine’s accomplishments.  I could not shake it and thought that perhaps I was focusing on a photograph of her in her graduation gown; after all, graduation was what I was hoping for myself.  I just allowed those feelings to infuse my sculpture and the process. On the third day I received an e-mail from Jeanine’s mother explaining that she was feeling such pride for her daughter.  Jeanine’s mom lives in Alaska and I live in Texas.  Is that coincidence?

            It is difficult to explain this empathy, this feeling or sensing thing concerning my sculpture, and it is taking me an entire book to define it.  As they happen with the Dick Hathaway sculpture, I’ll be sure to let you know.  The first that I want to tell here, and a few others that I will mention later, also deal with Charlotte.

            Once I made the conscious decision to pursue this sculpture for myself, the school, and for Charlotte I found the only moment in a day during a very busy residency and called Nancy, Dick’s daughter, at her work to introduce myself.  It was in the hall on the fourth floor of College Hall while waiting for  Blythe’s lecture.  A friend later told me that she got off the elevator on the fourth floor and felt Charlotte so strong it almost knocked her over.  When she turned the corner she saw me on the phone. Was it coincidence that someone felt Charlotte while I was making the first steps to continue with this sculpture?  I must say that this friend did not know what I was doing before she sensed this.

            To me it was confirmation.  Charlotte is still a part of the project.

            At the culminating presentation that Wednesday in the April 2006 ADP cycle I brought my digital camera. As people gathered I was looking in the window of the camera trying desperately to figure out how to turn the sound off on my camera so that when I took pictures the camera did not chime.  I floated through all the menus and then turned the dial to a different setting and saw Charlotte.  It startled me.  It turns out I was holding the graduation program under the camera and I had not realized that it was pointed at the photo of Charlotte that was put on the back of the program.  A perfectly framed Charlotte stood looking at me.

Charlotte Hastings had a signed release form from Ruth and was helping to gather information for the sculpture.  She was so pleased that this sculpture was going to happen and I was devastated when I heard of Charlotte’s passing.  It was then that I realized that my motivation of doing the sculpture was in part for Charlotte. 

This past semester was busy.  I was trying to attempt fifty-one credits to be able to culminate in November of 2006.  I had no time to work on the Dick Hathaway project or to mourn Charlotte’s death.  My grief over Charlotte passing was as deep as hers over Dick’s.  It was not until the last residency in April of 2006. We were in the school’s memorial service for Charlotte. I expressed my longing for Charlotte to be here working on this with me, and I heard the words spoken by Blythe Silano, “But Charlotte loved Dick”.  Those thoughts began to ring in my heart and renewed the sculpture.  For me this sculpture is not just in memory of Dick Hathaway it is also in memory of my friend and advisor, Charlotte Hastings. 

A picture of Charlotte and myself, residency 2005. This was the semester residency that we planned the sculpture of Dick.

I find myself yearning for something to compare.  Nancy said she had a picture of herself with Dick.  I was so intrigued.  If Dick is on the same plane as Nancy’s face then I can utilize her face to get the size of Dick’s head.  Funny, the more I think about Dick’s head the more I ask myself, “Wasn’t it larger than normal?”  I laugh thinking that maybe I am imagining his intelligence and replacing it for the actual size of his head, but then again I can’t help but wonder.  Did Dick Hathaway’s head larger than normal?

            I wished I had my sculpting calipers and could have measured Nancy’s head to compare it to Dick’s, but because I was the one initiating the project I wondered if I was intruding too much on Nancy, even if Nancy seemed very comfortable with my requests. 

            I am grateful of her acceptance of the project because I have found there are two totally different views about posthumous sculpture; you either love it or hate it. Having a three dimensional figure of a loved one that you can touch is difficult for some people, it may be difficult for some of the readers of this blog who see the sculpture.  For others it is the greatest tribute. I think about Patsy and I hope her grandchildren will come to her sculpture and talk with her.  Maybe slip love notes or flowers in her bronze hands.

            And with the sculpture of Dick I hope people ask, “Who is the man that is motioning to me from across the green?” If people ask then those knowing and loving Dick can tell them what a great man he was, describe his passions and in turn the they and Dick live on.

            I asked Nancy, Dick’s step-daughter, if someone could take a photograph of her holding a ruler under her chin.  What a silly question to ask someone.  But to the artist this is so important.  Does anyone reading this blog have a picture of himself or herself with Dick both on the same plane?  If so, could they send it to me and would they mind helping me with measurements?  I need this ASAP.

            I found some photographs in the memorial photographs with Dick next to the podium at Vermont College.  Before leaving I went and measured the podium.  Maybe I can utilize this to help me to find Dick’s measurements.  Compare, Compare, Compare.

I still find myself yearning for the clothes. Shoes….

Last residency in April of 2006 I spent a great deal of time trying to find Dick.  I met his step daughter Nancy and introduced myself. I asked her for photographs and tried to impress the importance of finding Dick’s clothes.  Someone said I could find the most modest of clothes and that would work, but for me it would lack something, they would not be Dick’s.  I think of each time I have received articles of clothing from the families that commission me.  Examining the clothes has always been an important part of the commission process.  The moments I spent with Patsy’s Dress and shoes, and Lucas’ shorts, shirt and sneakers, help me to“feel” something that somehow is translated into the clay.

The element of a person’s clothing also give me a concrete item to work from when I am trying to pull something from the abstract.  I know how long a leg is by the length of the pants.  With Patsy’s dress I was able to figure out measurements on her face and body from the space between the buttons on her dress.
I could compare this to photographs of her with the same dress and know her proportions.  Ah, to have Dicks’ clothes and a photograph of him in those clothes; that would be the ultimate.

I have noticed that often the sculpture seems to grow from the feet upward.  I can copy a shoe in clay exactly and then move on through the sculpture. Here is a picture is of the newsboy sculpture shoe, I added real brads to the clay and shoelaces.

This sculpture commission is somewhat different from those that I am used to.  Usually I have a contact, a client who approaches me to do a bronze of their loved one.  In the case of the sculpture of Dick Hathaway this sculpture has come to be because of my own enthusiasm and desire. 

In some ways I am my own client.  This makes much more work for me.  Usually the personal affects and photographs are provided to me.  Instead I have to go seeking out these items. Of course my clients provide the funds,  but not so in the case of the Dick Hathaway Memorial.  I am trying to raise the balance of at least $ 9,000 after my personal donation of $16,00+

 No matter what the posthumous sculpture subject, I still spend a great deal of time trying to find my subject, immersing myself in who they were.  Whether it is like the last three commissions; Patsy, a mother in Texas, Lucas, a five year old in Arkansas or  Jeanine, twenty-six year old form Alaska, my work is finding them. I spend time meditating and searching for each one.  In some ways there are advantages to my initiating this project.   For one thing I had the pleasure of meeting Dick Hathaway, however short our interaction was. I was still able to know a part of him in life that in most of my posthumous sculpture projects I never have that luxury.

( From the Dick Hathaway project blog.) I should probably start by introducing myself.  My name is Bridgette Mongeon I am a sculptor and writer living in Houston, Texas and I am a student at Vermont College Union Institute in Vermont. ( Since the writing of this blog post Vermont College as it was known has been sold. I believe Goddard College has a similar program. ) I am presently in my culminating semester and will be graduating on November 1, 2006. 

My study through my three semesters has been continuous; I am working on a book titled “Bringing to life the Spirit of the Deceased – A Sculptor’s Journey”.  I have been a sculptor for over twenty years and one of the things that I specialize in is posthumous sculpture.  After Dick Hathaway’s passing at residency in October of 2005 I proposed to Vermont College to do a sculpture of Dick Hathaway.  At first it was going to be a bust, but I longed for a life size bronze to be placed on the green outside of the historical building of College Hall. I am donating my sculpting time, and because I often do part of the casting process including mold making and wax I can also donate that part of the foundry fees if necessary.  I am in need of further funding for casting and shipping the sculpture to Vermont. The details of the costs of creating this memorial are found on my website. You will also find information there, on how you can donate to the project and help to raise the minimum amount of $9,000 that is needed for casting Dick in Bronze. 

            My heart’s desire is to have this sculpture done and received by Vermont College by November 1, 2006, the date of my culmination.  My culminating presentation will be on finding and capturing the spirit of Dick Hathaway in sculpture. Though it is a quick turn around for sculpting and casting a bronze, I do expect to meet the challenge and extend my personal invitation to each of you for the unveiling of the Dick Hathaway sculpture and my presentation

 Given that six months is a short amount of time for sculpting, casting and shipping a bronze, much depends upon my having the necessary funding to finish the job before that date.  If for some reason it is postponed, then Dick will have to sit in my studio until the rest of the money is raised.  I can think of worse things than having Dick Hathaway hanging around.
Those interested in viewing my work can see it on my web site at https://creativesculpture.com.

My most recent commissions was a life size newsboy commissioned by the Texas Press Association and intended for the state capitol in Austin. I have documented the process of sculpting the newsboy on my blog as well.

I have also just finished a life size bronze of Patsy-a posthumous commission of a 60-year-old sitting on a bench. In addition, I’m finishing up a life size bronze of Lucas-a five year old running, and life size bronze bust of Jeanine a twenty six year old, both of which are posthumous sculptures.  

            The purpose of this blog is to share the adventure of the sculpting Dick Hathaway so that everyone can be a part of it.  I would love to hear your stories about Dick.  I am also very excited to hear the “Hathawayisms.”  And please, if you have photographs of Dick they would be extremely helpful to the sculpture process.  You can mail your copies to my mailing address: Bridgette Mongeon, P.O. Box 10562, Houston, Texas 77206 or you can send them digitally through e-mail.

            I also hope to raise awareness of the project through this blog to encourage the donation of funds.  I have set up a separate account at Whitney Bank in Houston, Texas.  Unfortunately, donations are not tax deductible. I am sorry that I could not get a not-for -profit organization involved so that the donations would be tax deductible. There was just not enough time.

            If you would like to view the financials and schedule for the project you can do so at on these blog pages.