Image: L. Gomes / PML / Game of Thrones dragon in the works.

By Laurice Gomes

Chilliwack metal sculptor

They aren’t made of stone: The road to success for a well-known Chilliwack metal sculptor and his wife

Aug 17, 2022 | 6:08 PM

CHILLIWACK — Kevin Stone is a talented metal sculptor, and with his wife, Michelle Stone, by his side, the couple are a force to be reckoned with.

The Stones have had stupendous success with their larger-than-life steel sculptures, but their path to it was not an easy one, lined with treachery, disappointing partnerships, and even the courtroom.

Kevin said his career as a world-renowned steel sculptor began in 2003 when he built a gargoyle for a company he used to work for in Abbotsford.

“It led to a private investor, and that private investor invested in me to do a big eagle, and then that led into a long, long, arduous court battle as he tried to steal it and relocate it, and locked me out of the building where I built it,” he said. “Literally, he had hired a company from out of town to cut it apart and try to relocate it.”

The Stones managed to seize the sculpture back, but it was severely damaged because it was cut apart.

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Image: L. Gomes / PML / Kevin and Michelle Stone.

“So, then it sat on my property for a couple of years, and eventually it was sold to a local wealthy individual,” Kevin said. “He bought it from me, and I did all the repair work on it and installed it in his place. So that’s been installed since 2014.”

Kevin said while the commissioned big eagle situation was in the courts being dealt with, there was interest from lots of potential buyers.

“I was contacted to buy it, and I said, ‘Well you know, it could be two or three years dealing with this. I don’t know when it will be available. I could always build another one’. So, they thought about it for a while, and then they came back and said let’s invest and we’ll build another one,” Kevin said, and thus started a burgeoning business.

Kevin built two sculptures back-to-back—a 40-foot stainless steel eagle and an 85-foot Chinese water dragon, leading into yet another frustrating partnership.

“They saw what I had built, and greed kicked in, and they wanted ridiculous money,” he said. “Initially we were thinking of a million dollars for this big sculpture, and all of a sudden they wanted 10 million.”

In the face of it all, Kevin and Michelle stand in their studio discussing their four projects currently on the go. The massive masterpieces tower inside the studio, their intricate details commanding the attention of anyone who comes into contact with them.

Image: L. Gomes / PML / The sculpture is inspired by the dragon ‘Drogon’ in the TV series Game of Thrones.

“So, we’re finishing up the Game of Thrones dragon,” he said. The dragon has been in the works for two years, come October.

“Initially, the dragon was supposed to go to California,” Kevin explained. “The client had a house with a big roundabout, and the dragon was going to sit in the roundabout, and people would be able to drive under the dragon, and it would shoot fire down the driveway—all on a remote.”

Part of the success for the couple is the commission to create a massive 6-foot-tall head of Elon Musk, along with a 30-foot-long body of a goat for the head to sit on, that was ready to be shipped to the billionaire in early July.

Image: L. Gomes / PML / Kevin Stone is also working on a T-Rex sculpture for a client in Penticton.