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Artist molds family with his bare hands Yearlong effort produces busts, new friendships By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com
AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA
Don Higgs, a 92-year-old sculptor, stands with Christine Case and her son Christopher by a bust of Chrisopher he created on display at Village Park Milton. After meeting Case around a year ago at St. Thomas Aquinas, Higgs began creating sculptures of all six of her children.
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ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A corner of the art room at Village Park Milton, a retirement community in Alpharetta, is dedicated to Don Higgs’ sculpting work. Materials, tools and art pieces, like a small llama and a bust of his wife Grace, crowd the area. Higgs, 92, works mostly in clay — plasteline isn’t as malleable, at least the stuff manufactured in the U.S. The best comes from Italy, he said. “I love the feel of [clay]. It’s cool and smooth,” said Higgs, on his way to grab the mold of a young girl. She and the likeness of the rest of the Case children are on display in the lobby of Village Park, the result of a yearlong effort. The mother, Christine Case, sat at the table in the art room with her youngest son Christopher, who was busy doodling and staying occupied with Grace. Higgs
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approached Case one day at St. Thomas Aquinas, a place where he searches for new subjects. “Don came up and said, ‘Oh, you have such a beautiful family’ … and then we started chatting,” Case recalled. The next week, Case said Don brought along his portfolio and that the interaction unfolded into a year of regular visits to Village Park. “It was really nice because we got to know Don and [Grace],” Case said. “In addition to Don doing his art, we became friends.” Higgs dove into art in his mid40s, sculpting busts of his wife and children, later taking over his mother’s work as she aged. Once a professional sculptor in the Washington, D.C., area, Higgs’ mother had created busts of her nine grandchildren and passed the torch to Higgs when 29 grandchildren came along.
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