5/8/08
F.E. DuBose instructor creates a Marion masterpiece
By Jerriod Grizzle

JERRIOD GRIZZLE/Manning Times

Welding Instructor Axel Reis works on the facial outline of Francis Marion at the F.E. Dubose Career Center Welding Studio. Reis said that the statue right now is in its preliminary stages and he still has about a year left on his project.

Francis Marion, the famous revolutionary war hero, known as the “Swamp Fox” for outsmarting the British Tories is soon going to be in 3-D form thanks to F.E. Dubose Career Center’s welding instructor Axel Reis and the students of the welding department.

Reis said that he is going to combine all the elements of the state landscape to make the statue as real as possible.

“It is going to be set in a swamp area with some plants growing with Francis Marion looking like he is hiding behind the tree on look out,” he said.

Reis was commissioned by the Swamp Fox Mural Trail Society Founders George and Carol Summers to weld and sculpt not just one but three statues to be placed in different parts of the county.

“We had our symposium last year and we saw a piece that Axel and his class had done of a large horse. We talked to him about what he had been working on with his students and he came up with a sketch and it looked great,” said Carol Summers.

Even now Reis said that he is looking, thinking and drawing for ideas on his next two projects.

“I want to choose scenes from daily life … maybe a campfire scene later on,” he said.

Reis said that in making his “Marion masterpiece,” he is using a complex process.

“We do it step by step, the outline, the skeleton, the muscle and then the flesh. It is very tedious at times because you take some off and you add some more,” he said.

Reis pointed out that one obvious feature that is not known, was what did Marion actually look like? He pointed out that he has a good idea as to some of the features Marion may have had because he was of Huguenot lineage.

“He was a horseman so he was strong at the top and probably short, about five feet tall or a little taller, narrow face and small lips,” he said.

According to numerous South Carolina historical sources, Reis’ interpretation is on point with Marion’s features.

Reis said that the statue could take up to a year to make and when it is completed, it won’t just be his artwork, it will be the Welding Department’s artwork as well.

“Because of the classes that I teach I maybe spend about 2-3 hours per day working on it. The students help as well with some welds,” he said. “It is not just welding but it is showing the students what they are capable of; it is showing the community and the parents of the students what the classes are capable of and on top of that it is a history lesson.”

Reis is a Master Welder at the F.E. Dubose Career Center. Originally from Trier, Germany, he has been in the United States for 18 years.

“You have to love what you do; if not, there is no point in doing it,” he said.