Big Bad Bear by Bryan Tedrick rises in Kenwood

Bryan Tedrick has a bear by the tail. All 15 tons of it.

That’s the estimated weight of the 28-foot high “bear” the renowned Glen Ellen metal sculptor was commissioned to create for the grounds of St. Anne’s Crossing Winery in Kenwood, where it will greet visitors with more than a “steely” gaze.

“Ferocious,” said Tedrick, 66. “The only specification I had was that it be ferocious.”

That request came from St. Anne’s owner Ken Wilson, a longtime admirer of Tedrick’s large-scale work. The bear at 8450 Sonoma Highway is the third massive animal sculpture of Tedrick’s to stand watch at one of the vintner’s winery estates – the sculptor’s Coyote reigns at Wilson Winery in Dry Creek and his giant wild boar – dubbed “Lord Snort” – resides at Soda Rock Winery in Alexander Valley.

The bear, which Tedrick playfully calls Big Bad Bear, was installed over the weekend at St. Anne’s Crossing with the final touches – its ginormous rotating head – lifted into place by crane on Monday, Jan. 24.

Tedrick said the key element to any of his animal sculptures is his approach to the head. “The trick is to tune into the animal’s attitude,” Tedrick said of his approach. “And that is mainly expressed in the head.”

No animal is the same to Tedrick, each having its own energy – whether pig energy, coyote energy or bear energy. “It’s more of a feeling,” he concedes.

Big Bad Bear has been in development for over 30 months, according to a timeline from the winery. It’s been one of the artist’s most time-consuming projects — the fur in particular was painstaking, with cuts of water pipe shaped into potato-chip form, each one hand-hammered onto the body. The bear is as much a reflection of the meticulous nature of art as it is its resilience. Tedrick’s Glen Ellen studio was among the buildings lost to the Nun’s Fire in 2017 and, following that rebuild, materials for the Big Bad Bear were taken from recycled steel from Wilson’s Soda Rock Winery Tasting Room which burned down in the 2019 Kincade Fire.

“The bear, to me, is a reminder of the wildlife that surrounds us and the will to survive,” Tedrick said.

Wilson originally sought out a large-scale bear to reflect the significance of the animal in California history – as the ursine symbol of the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846, when American settlers imprisoned Mexican Gen. Mariano Vallejo and declared California an independent republic. The new republic’s “bear flag” – the banner was emblazoned with a drawing of a grizzly and a single star – flew for a mere 25 days before the territory was folded into the United States. The flag became the basis of the California state flag.

But none of that history was in Tedrick’s sights while constructing the piece. “My job was just to bring it to life,” he said.

Several of Tedrick’s pieces have been featured at the Burning Man festival – Lord Snort and the coyote among them. Tedrick had been a regular at the alternative art festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert since 2005, but this year he won’t be attending – at least not with a giant metal mammal, that is. “I tried to get a grant for making this bear for Burning Man, and for the first time I didn’t (receive one),” Tedrick said, adding that the festival has “lost its luster” since founder Larry Harvey died in 2018. “I’m kind of getting turned off by the whole thing.”

What he’s not burned out on, is art – giant, metal animal art.

“I’m itching to do a mountain lion,” he said, when asked what other types of critters he’d like to bring to heavy metal life.

Tedrick’s burgeoning interest in cougars stems partly from a recent encounter. “Had one walk within 25 feet of me, walked right by me,” he said, saying he feels a “connection” to mountain lions and other big animals “that live around us.” (He once sculpted a life-size cougar, but has yet to take on a “monumentally scaled one.”)

Until then, he’s just enjoying the satisfaction of completing Big Bad Bear which, he saw put together in its entirety for the time, on Monday.

“We’re a counterpoint to Jack London,” said Tedrick about his 30,000-pound creation. “His wolf has been getting all the press for a long time. It’s time for a bear.”

Email Jason Walsh at Jason.walsh@sonomanews.com.