Thursday was a great day for SKIPTON in North Yorkshire
The unveiling of Graham’s Sculpture of Fred Trueman took place under blue skies and a terrific sense of civic pride for one of Yorkshires most celebrated characters. We felt privileged to be there to witness yet another masterpiece from Graham Ibbeson take up its rightful place in the quaint market square with its canal bridges and brightly coloured long boats. Ps. the tea and bacon butties were close to perfection, Graham. Thanks for a great day.
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The stamina of Graham Ibbeson is truly amazing. Is there any limit to this man’s ability to turn out the most extraordinary sculpture. Sportsmen, film stars, tv celebrities, political legends, working heroes, they have all come under the palate knife of Graham Ibbeson.
The larger-than-life statue of the man who sent hundreds of Test batsmen packing.
The statue is an affectionate portrait of the much-loved cricketing icon and portrays Dickie in a familiar pose – finger raised, giving his decision on the field. The bronze also looks towards Shaw Lane Cricket Cricket Club, where he started his career. The site of the statue is on Church Lane in the town, close to the location of his former childhood home. A copy of the bronze is also in Melbourne, Australia, with a third planned for a site in Mumbai, India.
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Over the past 30 years, Graham has exhibited extensively throughout Europe and the USA and has worked with architects, planners and design professionals, to produce unique site specific public sculpture including bronze portraits of ERIC MORECAMBE (Morecambe)
& CARY GRANT (Bristol) Millennium Square
THE LEEDS MILLENNIUM SCULPTURE,
THE JARROW MARCH,
LAUREL & HARDY,
THE HUCKNALL SCULPTURE (the tallest free-standing sculpture in Nottinghamshire)
to mention but a few!
Skipton brewery’s tribute to Freddie Trueman.
The Freddie Trueman Yorkshire Ale is being developed by the seven-year-old Copper Dragon brewery in Skipton. It is to be launched on February 6, the Yorkshire and England fast bowler’s birthday. But not only is Yorkshire’s most iconic cricketer being immortalised in a new beer, he’s been under the scalpel of Mr Ibbeson
Veronica Trueman, widow of Fred checks out the new beer with Graham.
The life-sized £90,000 bronze of the Yorkshire and England cricketer will be erected in Skipton. It was paid for by The Freddie Trueman Statue Appeal, which was set up in 2007 by Northern Rail, the council and Fred’s widow, Veronica.
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A special miniature version of the life size statue to be unveiled in Skipton in March 2010 and the maquette will be one of the central pieces of the new cricket museum set to open at Headingley next year.
The bronze maquette, which weighs about 2kg, stands at around 1/10th of the size of the life-size statue
The profits from the sale of this maquette have been donated to The Freddie Trueman Statue Appeal, which has been created and led by Northern Rail.
“Usually the Sculptor will keep this cast as part of their own collection, on this occasion I thought it fitting my small, bronze maquette (and artist proof) of Fred Trueman should be offered to The Yorkshire County Cricket Club, said Graham.
“I hope my portrait captures some of the great affection I have for Fred Trueman. I personally see it as a small, but heartfelt tribute to a true Yorkshire icon, and one of the greatest fast bowlers ever.”
The unveiling of the life size statue is set to be heralded by a Freddie Trueman Tribute Dinner held at the Queens Hotel in Leeds on March 17, 2010. Guests will have the opportunity to meet legendary Yorkshire players set to be in attendance including Brian Close, Ray Illingworth, Geoff Boycott, Dickie Bird and Bryan Stott. There will also be a number of rare and unique items of cricket memorabilia on offer in the auction to be held as part of the celebrations.
Wife on the Ocean Wave 
Wife on the Ocean Waves in Cardiff Bay, South Wales is one of my favorite pieces. I had a copy of it in the gallery for a while and it got the most amazing amount of attention. You can see why! Its the quirky nature of Graham’s own creations that interest me the most. The drawings and paintings of this artist mustn’t be overlooked. It’s easy to get so wrapped up in the celebrity stuff that we mistakenly think thats all there is to Graham Ibbeson. Not So! I held an exhibtion of his smaller works in my gallery, late last year, accompanied by the most wonderful collection of paintings. Its when you see these works that you realize what a draftsman Mr Ibbeson is.
