B2 North Padre Island Moon July 18, 2008

They went to the Padre Island Investment Corporation sales office which was where American Bank is now located. Realtor Walter Durford took them back to the house and on the way asked what Kent did for a living. When he was told Kent was an artist, Walter remarked that the house had a plus for him because it had a studio. Turns out he was a good salesman because it was actually a guesthouse above the garage with a skylight but it could easily be turned into a studio. According to Kent “It was like a big finger from the sky pointing to the house”. The house was built in 1969 and was owned by Bruce Anderson who was a Houston oilman who used it as a weekend home. The asking price on the house was $76,000 and Veerle wanted to offer $73,000 but Kent was concerned “What if we don’t get it?” On the drive back to Denver they kept asking; “What the hell have we done?”. They moved into the house a few months later and raised their two sons there and still live in the same house. Kent divides his time between his studio here and the large one in Denver near the foundry. They originally planned on building a large studio on the lot they bought next door. However Kent was concerned “A large piece takes me about a year and I could not risk it being blown away”. His large works start out in his Island studio first as a drawing then a clay abstract and finally a small clay model (maquette) some of which become enormous wildlife masterpieces found all over the world. I could not wait to visit his Island studio to see the birthplace of his masterpieces. The studio is adjacent to the two-car garage and about the same size with a loft containing a library of books and the business office Veerle runs. There was so much to look at my eyes darted everywhere. Seeing the maquettes of his large-scale works amidst the African artifacts through a doorway of a 40-year-old unpretentious cedar garage was an Island experience I will long remember.

The most awe striking African memento, if you can call it that, is a wall hanging of a skin from a 500-pound lion. The lion was attacking people and Kent was asked to track and kill the man-killer. I was spellbound listening to the experience of hearing the lion’s roar getting louder as the light was getting dimmer. I told Kent this Chicagoan does not know much about rifles but I think the readers would want to know what weapon he used. It was a .375 H&H magnum. For control purposes he had to kill more than 20 lions and was able to keep two skins. The studio has what Kent calls his “wall of heroes”. It has framed Swedish artists Zorn and Liljefors who inspired him growing up. The only other framed items were two photos of John

Wayne. “Us Europeans have a fascination with the wild west which he represented by being a man’s man. When Wayne was in Africa filming he would go to the local bars to mingle. He did his own stunts including a segment where he had to ride on a jeep bumper next to a running rhino.” Turns out I provided a jaw dropping experience for Kent as well. I brought along aerial shots taken in l969 of his subdivision which was the first developed by the PIIC. There were only 14 homes at the time and he was quite excited to see that one of them was their home. He told me of the history of one of the other homes in the photo located on Emerald Street. The home was built in 1969 and was owned by Mr. Skillern who killed

his brother over a drug deal. The back area did not have a patio. Skillern buried his brother’s body there and poured a concrete patio over it. Eventually the smell attracted a neighborhood dog that dug under and around it and that was how the body was discovered. The killer served his time in prison but after his release he was killed, ironically in a drug related incident. Kent was interested in knowing how I met his best friend Guy Harvey that he had read about in the Moon. I was on a cruise in December with my son and we stopped at the port in Grand Cayman. Walking along the waterfront we spotted a Guy Harvey store and because my son Alex grew up wearing his clothing line we had to go inside. I overheard a gentleman asking a sales clerk if Guy was upstairs. I thought surely he doesn’t mean “THE Guy”. I saw a small sign at a back stairway that said, “art gallery”. We went up the art lined stairway to discover Guy Harvey himself at a table in the center of the showroom penciling a sketch of his latest marine drawing. There were just three of us so it was easy to approach him. I saw Ullberg pieces displayed and told him Kent was an Island neighbor of ours. We were surprised when Guy told us Kent was his best friend. He proceeded to show us a book of his biography with many photos of the two of them on wildlife adventures. They had met about twenty years prior at a Boat Show in Fort Lauderdale. Veerle runs the Corpus Christi Art Connection which is a gallery in Lamar Park Plaza on Alameda. Along with Kent’s sculptures there are art pieces by Guy as well as other artists for purchase. It was interesting to find that they prominently display each other’s works in their galleries. In fact, the Grand Cayman store has an Ullberg marlin outside the entrance. At Ullberg Park on Jackfish Street you can view two statues up close so you can appreciate the intricate detail. One is “Windbourne’ which is two eagles flying and the other is “The Journey’s End” which has Kemp’s ridley turtles. Kent is currently working on two major projects. One is a 19’ elephant commissioned by the St. Louis Zoo and the other is a Mako shark for NOVA University in Florida. He continues to keep very busy but drops everything when grandson Seaton comes to visit. The famous artist then becomes the doting grandpa.

Our Island Gardeners Club has a beautiful yard that we want to share with you for the month of July. It is at 14954 Topgallant Street. Mark and Kathy Sanders came to Corpus Christi in October 2006. The landscaping is influenced from travels to Big Shell and tropical locations in Mexico, Belize, and Jamaica. The drive is lined with Mexican fan palms, the sidewalk is lined with shells and driftwood collected on the beaches as well as crotons and hanging baskets with ferns. In the center of the yard is an island with date palms and a cardboard palm. There are more shells surrounding the island. The front yard also contains queen palms, monde grass, bottlebrush, bird of paradise, sage palm, and oleanders. The back yard has a garden with tropical plants around the pool. These include

The Island Gardners Club Yard of the Month Winneryellow and orange esparanza, fire bush, queen palms, and hibiscus with large colorful blooms. There are rubber trees, banana trees and plumarias along one side of the house and on the other side are banana trees, cannas, and plumarias. Drive by and you will see why this Committee chose this area and why we are so excited about acknowledging residents who help make our Island Paradise more beautiful. We are finding that more and more homes, cul-de-sacs, and common areas are being landscaped and nurtured. We thank all of you for your interest and effort and we want to acknowledge you. If you want us to check out your yard or cul-de-sac, nominate a neighbor, become a member of The Island Gardeners or donate a “thank you” gift to our winners, please call Sandy Leber 949-7145, Peg Fairey, 949-7571or Mary Ann McShane, 949-2045.

Marina Holds Free Hurricane Awareness Meeting for Boat Owners

The City of Corpus Christi Municipal Marina will be holding a Hurricane Awareness Meeting for local boat owners. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, July 11, 2008 in the Boaters Facility Meeting Room, located on the Lawrence Street T-Head at the Marina. Marina officials remind local vessel owners of the importance of developing a plan of action for each hurricane season. Those plans should allow ample time for owners to remove or secure their boats well in advance of any threat from a hurricane. Guest speakers at the meeting will help provide vital information to assist local boat owners in developing personal emergency plans for their vessels. Hurricane season lasts from June 1 through the end of November each year. For more information about the meeting, please contact the Marina Office at 826-3980.

Guy Harvey at his Grand Cayman Gallery with Ullberg’s Ridley turtles

Ullberg; cont. from B1

Photo by Mary Craft

The Ullbergs at home