Eddie has landed
Eddie, a welded steel rod eagle created by Byron Anderson, perches on a 20-foot stump on the west side of Hayden Lake across from English Point. Photo courtesy of Byron Anderson.
A newly assembled Eddie, a steel framed bald eagle, sits outside artist Byron Anderson's garage while Anderson prepares to attach the bird to it's post, a 20-foot stump overlooking Hayden Lake. Photo courtesy of Byron Anderson.
A wing under construction for Eddie, a copper-covered steel framed bald eagle created by Byron Anderson. Photo courtesy of Bryon Anderson.
The steel framing for Eddie's head, a bald eagle steel structure created by Byron Anderson. Photo courtesy of Bryon Anderson.
A pattern overlaying a copper sheet for Eddie's wing. Byron Anderson who owns a cabin on Hayden Lake created the steel framed bald eagle to overlook the lake. Photo courtesy of Bryon Anderson.
Eddie, a welded steel rod eagle with a 6.5 wingspan, overlooks Hayden Lake from a stump at the cabin of artist Byron Anderson. Photo courtesy of Byron Anderson.
Hayden Lake boaters have a new greeter.
Eddie, a welded steel-rod eagle with a 6.5-foot wingspan, sits perched on a 20-foot stump on the west side of Hayden Lake across from English Point.
“I find pleasure in using my hands and thinking about stuff to be able to create, kind of create something out of nothing,” said Byron Anderson, the artist who spent about 60 hours bringing Eddie to life.
“It's a little bit like people who paint,” Anderson said. “You got just one piece of paper, a piece of canvas, and then you can have something that other people appreciate.”
Anderson started tinkering in art after retiring. A neighbor handed him a tablet and after seeing Anderson’s sketch, commented, “If you can do that you got to come to our watercolor class next week.”
And so the journey began. Anderson started working with paint and charcoal. Being raised on a dairy farm in Minnesota, as a young boy he had a lot of welding experience working on farm equipment repairs, and was always involved in wood and metal crafts.
Eddie joined Anderson’s collection of copper-covered steel birds on July 23, a collection that started with an osprey and chicks statue that sits atop his Hayden Lake cabin.
“I had a great, great uncle Eddie who was kind of kind of a role model for me,” Anderson said. “My uncle was a big part of my life as a kid.”
Anderson said he created Eddie to decorate the stump overlooking the lake after he decided — reluctantly — to remove the tree for safety purposes.
“I was raised in Minnesota in the prairies where there weren't many trees and you never cut down a tree,” Anderson said. “So using the stump was like making lemonade out of lemons.”
To create Eddie, Anderson welded a quarter-inch rod into a frame and covered it with copper. Then he put a primer over the copper surface and used exterior paints to color the bird.
The steel eagle’s appearance has caught the attention of boaters and birds alike, Anderson said, noting an osprey who did a U-turn for a second take and an eagle that decided it needed a closer look.
“I did see an eagle go by earlier this morning, very low right over him,” Anderson said with a chuckle. “So he's causing a little controversy I think in the neighborhood.”
A Navy veteran, Anderson said that by choosing the national bird he was trying to send a message to the country. The goal is to remind people of the eagle's symbolism because he feels America is losing some of its history and patriotism with political divisions.
“It's a little patriotic for me as well,” Anderson said. “That was driving me.”
Anderson said he hopes boaters who come to see Eddie will also take note of a sign by the water, a message to “Make your wake in the middle of the lake.”
Although a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, Anderson still spends summers and some winter trips at the cabin on Hayden Lake he purchased in the mid-’80s while working in Spokane.
“I’ve lived in airplanes and then all over the world and find this area up here just as good or better than any other place I've ever been in the world,” Anderson said.
