Peter Helzer, his wife, Marge Helzer, and a friend, Michael Stearns, slowly lift the ladle filled with 70 pounds of melted bronze from the fiery furnace and position it just at the opening of a plaster of Paris mold.

"Here we go. This is the head," says Helzer as the 2,000-degree liquid flows like lava into the mold of a 6-year-old fiddle player’s head.

The young violin player is one element of a life-sized sculpture of three young musicians on a bench to be placed at the corner of Ninth Street and Central Avenue in Medford. An unveiling of the $40,000 bronze and steel statue is scheduled Jan. 22.

If it all sounds a little familiar, maybe that’s because the new sculpture will make nine for Helzer in Medford. The 57-year-old sculptor from Dexter, near Eugene, is responsible for the chess player in Vogel Plaza as well as five sets of bronze doors, opossum coat hangers and the "monster" bench at the new Medford library.

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And that’s besides his 60-some other pieces, most of which are public art, around Oregon: a whimsical marching band of animals at the state Capitol, a goat at the entry of the Oregon Zoo in Portland and turtles in the zoo, and a girl on a bench eating an ice cream cone in Tualatin.

"There are artists who are artistic mechanics," said Brian Lanker, the Pulitzer Price-winning photographer who spearheaded the fund-raising effort for Helzer’s memorial sculpture of writer Ken Kesey in Eugene. "Can they really bring the soul and the spirit of the piece to the public?"

Brian Sjothun, director of the Medford Parks and Recreation Department, said public art such as Helzer’s brings a lot to downtown.

"I believe it enhances the image of the community," he said. He said the nice thing about it is that a variety of people, no matter their background, can find something meaningful in public art.

For the new sculpture, Helzer found models in his daughter, Alison, 12, playing the banjo, and her friends Nina Stearns, 6, playing the fiddle, and Teija Stearns, 13, playing the guitar.

It wasn’t the first time his daughter was his inspiration.

The monster on the library bench is reading a book titled "One Child After Another," a parody of Mercer Mayer’s "One Monster After Another," which was one of his daughter’s favorite books. He said he thought it would be fun to turn it around and have monsters reading a book about scary children.

"He’s the only artist I know that can use humor ... that touches your soul," said Bill Murray, retired owner of the Graystone Gallery in Portland. Murray said Helzer has shown his art in his gallery for 20 years.

Murray said Helzer’s work is inviting, and used Medford’s chess player as an example.

"It was welcoming. The chair was there for you to join the fellow and sit right there," he said.

Helzer has patience, skill and knows form and composition, but it’s more than that which makes him a gifted artist, said Murray.

"He’s very honest to himself — who he is — first," he said.

Lanker said he chose Helzer for the Kesey sculpture because he puts thought and research into his pieces.

"I think he’s a unique artist," said Lanker. "He’s not out just telling his story — he’s trying to tell your story."

Lanker said he’s pleased with how the Kesey sculpture turned out. He said adults pose for photos with it and children climb up on Kesey.

"Sometimes I’ll just go down there and sit across the street and watch the interaction," he said.

He also attributes Helzer’s popularity throughout the state to his affordability.

"A lot of sculptors will charge a great deal more money and not deliver the quality," he said.Helzer said he knows of a couple people in Eugene who operate small bronze foundries like his. But they stay in business by doing work for other people, and because the work is hard, a little dangerous and doesn’t have the greatest profit margin, small foundries usually survive only for a couple years. He’s unique because he casts only his own work, and he’s been doing it for 26 years.

"I taught in high school for eight years and I taught in universities for four, and then I just started doing it. I’ve been doing it for 26 years," he said. He acknowledges he puts in long hard hours now, but there are definite advantages.

"I don’t have to go to faculty meetings any more," he said.

He attributes his statewide success in part to his patient wife’s ability to endure the tight years before his career took off.

Marge Helzer, a paleobotanist who teaches anthropology and archaeology at Lane Community College, noted her husband’s technique is ancient.

"It’s a 5,000-year-old-process," she said. "It started in Mesopotamia." She said the Sumerian civilization made bronze tools, jewelry and sculptures.

"(Bronze was) often associated with the kings and the gods," she said. "It was a very religious-based society."

She said the process her husband uses has changed very little through the millennia.

As far as the chess player from Vogel Plaza, the damaged sculpture is still in City Hall, awaiting delivery to Helzer so he can begin repairs. He said the work could take some time because a new granite chessboard needs to be cut and sanded, but he hopes to get to the project soon.

He said people all around the state know about the chess player and like the tone it sets.

"I’ve been contacted by two cities in the last month asking me if I could do something like Medford," he said.

Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail mlanders@mailtribune.com.