This weekend I took the camper out for a little weekend family camping time. We headed north to stay at one of our favorite spots, which happens to be fairly close to the house: Vail Lake Resort. Vail Lake Resort offers quite a few fun activities to keep the kids busy, like fishing, horseback riding, mountain biking (OK, that one is for me), hiking, miniature golf, swimming, and of course waterslides (well, I guess you can call them that). Anyone who has been to Vail Lake Resort will also be familiar with the unique art pieces found along the drive to your campsite. These metal sculptures are the work of Ricardo Arroyo Breceda. The same man that has built over 120 metal sculptures found all over Borrego Springs.
While this is not Ricardo’s main sales and display location, he still must have a few hundred sculptures lying around Vail Lake Resort. You find everything from a metal palm tree to a large sea serpent and everything in between. Usually when I am camping at Lake Vail I am so busy doing other stuff that I don’t really spend much time looking at the art in detail. This trip I decided to bring my camera and walk around with my son to admire all the different metal sculptures of Ricardo Breceda.
Ricardo has been creating his metal sculptures since the release of the movie Jurassic Park III. His daughter’s enthusiasm over dinosaurs started him on a hobby that would quickly lead to a passion “to transform metal into incredible life like creations.” You see he does enjoy his dinosaur sculptures.
For those who always wanted a palm tree but can’t grow one thanks to the fact it snows where you live, you can always “plant” one of these in your garden. After I took all these photos and went home to read up on Ricardo, I found on his website that this is exactly what someone did. There is a picture of a couple from Wyoming taking one home.
The attention to detail in some of his sculptures is quite impressive. This Grizley Bear looks like it took a while to Make.
This gives you a little better idea of how he puts his sculptures together.
A Mayan overlooking the miniature golf course.
His largest sculpture at Lake Vail is of this sea serpent. It is hard to gauge how big it is without some scale. I should have had my son stand next to it. Next time.
While metal sculptures are not something I would place in my garden, I certainly do appreciate the hard work that goes into making these. If sculptures like this are your cup of tea, Ricardo says “ALL I REQUIRE IS A PHOTO OR SKETCH… and I will create a unique sculpture just for you!”
I have made metal are and a few dinosaurs but your work is much nicer.