SNOHOMISH — She towers over customers heading into the Snohomish Bakery, standing better than 12 feet tall and holding a massive rolling pin.
The statue was installed a week ago outside the shop at 101 Union Ave. She has been called rolling-pin woman, or RPW for short, but she hasn’t been formally named.
“There’s some names floating around,” said Andy Papadatos, the bakery’s owner. “I haven’t chosen one yet.”
The statue is mechanized so that the arms will go back and forth rolling the pin across an oversized table. The motion of the arms is aimed to catch the eyes of passersby walking through historic downtown Snohomish.
She’s scheduled to be turned on today.
“It’s our representation of the Hammering Man,” said Papadatos, referencing the statue outside the Seattle Art Museum.
It was created by Snohomish artist Jesse Purdom, a self-taught metal worker who spent more than a year perfecting the piece.
“Female is kind of a hard sculpture, because you’re really afraid of offending someone if you don’t do it right,” Purdom said. “I did the face three times.”
Purdom was a customer of the bakery when he ran his business, Pacific Metal Arts, in downtown Snohomish. (He’s since moved his shop to his home.)
He showed Papadatos some of his work one day. Papadatos asked him if he wanted to try a stab at a statue of a baker with a rolling pin.
“In five minutes, he was devoted to the project,” Papadatos said.
Purdom, 32, had been an electrician, but switched to art during the housing downturn about five years ago. A friend gave him a welding machine and $500.
“I didn’t even know how to weld,” Purdom said. “I knew I wanted to weld and I wanted to work with metal.”
He started making 3-D metal fish sculptures that he sold at farmers markets around the region. He has since grown Pacific Metal Arts to design sculptures for homes, businesses and cities.
“Sometimes you just find what you’re supposed to do, and I think that’s what happened with me,” Purdom said.
The rolling-pin woman is one of his largest pieces so far. It’s about the size of an American Indian warrior with a raven mask that he made for a client in Montana.
For the rolling-pin woman project, one of the bakers posed for the statue and Purdom took some pictures of her. From there, Purdom did some drawings for what the statue would eventually become.
The statue, which cost about $20,000, is made of hand-pounded steel with a custom patina coloring to give it a bronze look.
The rolling pin is made of maple; a woodworker Purdom knows from the summer circuit made it. The motor for the arms is tucked inside the table.
Purdom and three other guys carried the statue to the front of the Snohomish Bakery last week. He said that she weighs about 400 pounds and the arms come off.
“She’s not insanely heavy,” Purdom said.
Purdom said he’s thankful for his wife, Jen Purdom, who supported his career switch.
“Just a little credit to the wife for being cool and letting me do what I do,” he said.
Unveiling planned
An unveiling is planned at 3 p.m. today at the Snohomish Bakery at 101 Union Ave., Snohomish, for the metal sculpture. Snohomish Mayor Karen Guzack is scheduled to attend.
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