Hal Payne

THE MINER was conceived when Hal was challenged by Glen Almquist of the Sprag Pole Museum in Murray, Idaho, to create a sculpture that immortalized the spirit of the Coeur d'Alene Mining District.

Hal decided to depict a hard rock miner deep in the bowels of the earth as a symbol of this world famous mining district. He also decided to show the miner as he would have appeared in the period from the 1930's through the 1950's.

The dress and tooling of the miner spans several decades of change in the mining district. "It is perfectly plausible that a miner could be found in the same dress and using the same tools toward the end of that era," says Hal.

The choice of a Le Roi jack leg air-driven drill appealed to Hal because it could be directly replicated from the Sprag Pole Museum's exhibit. It's air and water hoses are almost in every case opposite to the jack leg setups in current use. "Artistically I just liked it," says Hal.

THE MINER was first sculpted in wax using the ancient lost wax process. Each of the 25 limited editions was cast in bronze in over twenty pieces and reassembled by skilled artisans. The final metal work and patina was carefully executed by Hal, who signed each work of art.