Molding the Bear: Basketball coach molded lives, now molds public figures

ELBA — As a coach, Ken English helped mold young lives.

Now, he’s making molds of the coach he most admired.

“His mouth was very difficult to do,” English said of a life-sized bust he created of Paul “Bear” Bryant. “As everyone ages, you lose volume in your lips.

“He had the characteristics of what I call a snarl. Probably that grimace came from years of smoking Chesterfields, or looking at players and saying that kid is not tackling right.”

The legendary Alabama football coach is one of the many subjects English has crafted, and now is marketing to the public from the Elba-based business, Superior Architectural Designs.

English said he grew up an Alabama fan, and his childhood goal was to be a coach.

“I grew up like most kids in the south,” he began. “Being a Bama fan, I would huddle around that radio every week to listen to the game. I remember every Sunday that Bear Bryant Show would come on TV and I’d watch that.”

English wanted to be a coach, too, and accomplished such as a basketball mentor. His stops included the former Coffee Springs High School, Malone and most recently Ariton.

After two years as the boys basketball coach at Ariton, English stepped away following last season and is now putting his energy towards his artistic talents.

While coaching was in his blood, English is a man of varied interests.

“When I was in college, I would skip class and go to the library and play chess,” English said. “I got into making my own chess sets.

“Then for awhile, I was working for a guy who was casting figurines and making molds. He had a figurine shop in Elba and was casting statues. I learned a lot about mold making from him.

“My problem I guess in not being a success in anything is I’ve been interested in so many things — Civil War artifacts, wood works, old machinery. I’ve always been fascinated with tools.”

English said his first attempt at a sculpture of Bryant was in 1981 while he was a coach at New Hope Junior High. English said it was sent to Bryant, and he was able to talk to him on the phone.

“It was done as a plaque,” English said. “He (Bryant) supposedly had it on his wall.

“Then I did a first bust I would rank as pitiful in 1984.”

The work he creates now is extremely detailed and professional in appearance.

“I have never had an art lesson in my life,” English said. “And I can’t draw anything.”

But his natural talents take over after assembling photographs of the subject.

“I get side profiles and straight-on pictures,” he said. “I do a lot of measurements. I did have some anatomy classes at Troy under Nick Costes, who was one of the best teachers I ever had.

“I thought the knowledge of anatomy would get me ready as a coach to treat injuries, but that knowledge has been quite a help in doing sculptures.”

Working with an oil-based clay, English doesn’t have a lot of fancy tools to work with.

A can holding some old dentist instruments, a tooth brush, some homemade tools, an old knife and scissors are among the items he turns to.

The Bear Bryant bust, which is 18 inches tall and 15 inches wide, is among his favorite items. He’s also created some small statues of Bryant propped up next to a goal post.

He says forming the eyes is often the hardest part of the image.

“I must have done the eyes 10 to 20 different times,” English said of the Bryant bust. “The hardest thing is always the second eye. There’s a lot of makeovers — a lot of re-dos.”

English said he began the original bust of Bryant he’s now selling replicas of last February.

“We’ll cast about five a day,” English said. “Then it takes another day to repair.”

While English keeps busy with his business and raising cattle on his farm, he has sights on yet another goal — starting a boys home.

“In all my years of coaching, I’ve seen so many kids come through the program who didn’t have role models — people to take care of them,” English said. “What I would like to do with a boys home is set up a working ranch.”

Such is just a dream right now, but English loves a new challenge.

“I’ve always been an entrepreneur of sorts,” he said.

Prices for his items range from $50 to $500 and he can be contacted at his business for orders (897-0287).