Nervous Nellies Jams & Jellies

Selected Sculptures

A few people take a sculpture home with them. Most are delivered and installed by the artist. Some are shipped. Most reside along the Eastern seaboard; a few reside farther afield, in such places as Tucson, AZ, the Gulf Coast bayou of Mississippi and in Malibu, CA.

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Sculpture prices range from several hundred, to several thousand dollars each. For current pricing and availability, please contact us at sculpture@nervousnellies.com, or call.

Pig in Window – NFS

A partner to Nervous Nellie in the Café, the Pig has appeared at Fancy Food shows in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. His outfit came from Sanders’ Store, a now-defunct wilderness outfitter on Moosehead Lake. His motto is "Our jams are louder and funnier!"

Welcoming Bear

Man with Two Dogs

I had an idea of making a sculpture of a man in a cheap suit sitting on a suitcase, waiting for a bus, perhaps. But when I made this sculpture for a window in the State Theater in Portland, he looked lonely, so I gave him two dogs. One black and one white to symbolize that for all of life’s ups and downs, there is a steady supply of love.

Stove Leg Alligator

Years ago I found a set of stovelegs at the dump and made an alligator, perhaps inspired by Albert in the Pogo comic strips. A radiologist on Long Island bought him early in the summer and I couldn’t deliver him until fall. All summer long people said, "Can you make me an alligator like that?" It took me a while to figure out where I could get antique stovelegs in sets of four. This is alligator #14.

Lobster and Tuna Playing Checkers

NFS per Sam Johnson
Can you tell which one is winning?

Giraffe

On summer days as a teenager I would ride the train into Philadelphia and take the streetcar to the Zoo, spending all day there watching the animals.

Bull Dog

Pine with copper face; old hand-forged eyebolt for tail.

Seabird Landing

Sheep

The body is a rural mailbox from the days of the Sears Roebuck mail order catalog. One time I came out to the Café when a little girl had climbed inside the mailbox; only her feet were sticking out the door.

Lemur

The lemur was a childhood favorite at the Philadelphia Zoo. He holds an antique croquet ball.

Clown Charioteer with Donkey (half-scale)

These are inspired by characters from the now-defunct A. Schoenhut Toy Company (early 1900’s) whose popular Humpty Dumpty Circus featured a harnessed burro pulling a clown in a chariot.

Mama Bear & Cubs

The bear seemed to have a strong feminine aspect (is it the eyelashes?), so I made her some cubs.

Nellie Bird - not for sale

Nervous Nellie is a fictional character who became the namesake for a business that started out as a joke (beware of those aspects of your life that you think are a joke!). Like the rest of us she is on a journey and she has a story.

"Gently Sir, It’s Mothers’ Day"

Gently Sir, It's Mothers' Day.  This is a takeoff on cartoonist Peter Arno’s Mother’s Day Series (1930’s) for the New Yorker Magazine.

Car Door Man and Dog

International Harvester Travel all door; figures made of poplar (locally known as "popple"), sycamore and black walnut.

Alligator

Fish

Cowboy Bookcase

His vest is made of a cow hide I’ve held onto since my art school years in the ‘70s.

Knight Bookcase

Helmet is shield from a catalytic converter. Sword is of an antique farm implement.

Lizard

Made from worn-out scallop drags: heavy nets of steel rings that are dragged along the ocean floor.

Ceramics

I made ceramic sculptures during my art school years, starting small (see Viking Ship). In graduate school I had access to a walk-in kiln and all the natural gas I could burn. Things got monumental. I made the Western Sheriff (in Sculpture Building) and Indian, which will soon be mounted, and finally, a deep sea fish which resembled a ’54 Buick. It was also nearly the size, and half the weight, of a ’54 Buick. It is now, alas, part of a landfill mountain somewhere in Southern California.

When my son was small he wanted to work with clay and I worked along with him; we fired the results in an ancient kiln that had been given to me by a private school in Cambridge years ago. These pieces are the result.

Viking Ship

NFS This Viking ship was made in my art school days, thirty years ago. The helmsman is a sea troll.

Rising Sun

Dinosaur Wizard

The impressions on the Wizard’s cloak are that of the jawbone of an opossum.

Keyhole Fish

Fly Swatter Monkey

Desert Skeleton

Twins at Gas Pump

This sculpture is one of the first pieces I made here in Deer more than 20 years ago. Two twin brothers used to own the service station at the junction of Route 15 and the Sunshine Road (now Mill Pond Mobil). One twin, Bobby, is faced with linoleum from the days when it had rugs painted on it and was called "carpet." The other twin, Dicky, is made of the two sides of a staircase. I bought it from Jack Hamblen in the days when he supervised the Deer Isle dump for a salary of $10/week.

The Owl and the Pussy Cat

This whimsical couple has featured in many wedding ceremonies, my own included. The skiff was made by a nephew of a legendary Stonington lobsterman, Andrew Gove.

Moose

I made my first moose out of slabs from the Barter Lumber Company sawmill on Deer Isle. I traded AJ four jars of jam for the wood. That moose spent seven years outside the gallery at Migis Lodge on Sebago Lake and is now in Teatown, New York. This is Moose #10. All are different and range from the Maine Coast to Kentucky.

Pinto Pony with Cowboy

Old Car

The wire spoke wheels were found in the woods behind the one-cow barn. They are thought to be from a 1930’s Ford. The car seat, bumper,and lights were harvested from the Deer Isle dump.

Knight & Dragon (does not include apple tree)

The knight is made of an old ironing board and his armor is a piece of tin ceiling. The dragon’s head is a 5-gallon can with scythe blades for horns; his belly is the grill of a vintage 30’s car.

Flying Dragon

This is the first large-scale piece I've fabricated entirely from metal. His spine is a drive chain, possibly from an excavator.

Donkey

Once pulled a chariot driven by a clown. Out to pasture now…

Gas Can Pig

Cat in Garbage Can

Blue Oar Man

Built as a trellis for climbing nasturtium, the oar is from the Deer Isle dump. The shield is a pot lid and circular saw blade.

Tortoise

Shell is an upturned wheelbarrow.

Three Witches at Broadside Stove

Big Blue Witch

Little Black Witch

Voodoo Witch

Griffin – work in progress

Still needs an eagle’s wing, a dragon’s arm and a lion’s haunch and tail. His head is a lawnmower deck and his eye an automobile clutch.

Man Driving Car (Into the Ground)

NFS – Commission Peter to reanimate the old wreck in your back yard. This piece is an amalgamation of cars found abandoned in the woods of Mountainville. The front end is an Essex whose wooden spoke wheels still turn even after 80 years of exposure. The hood is from a depression-era Ford pick-up, recently removed to make way for a new house on Greenlaw Cove. The steering wheel is a wreath form – wire coat hanger – used locally.

Good Ol’Boys by Cast Iron Stove

This pair was inspired by two old fellows observed at the Deer Isle dump; they were making a detailed and leisurely Sunday afternoon study of its contents. Every item inspired a rueful or ribald story.

Hunter

Deer

Panther Man

While a shaman might wear tokens from the animal world, the Panther Man wears a necklace of doorknob hardware. He hangs from the type of boom common on fishing boats and wharves on the island.

Roc and Baby

The Roc, a mythic bird from Middle Eastern legend, came to occupy what began as a brush pile and then, somehow, took on the shape of a nest. She has flown to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and the nest awaits a new occupant.

Deer-faced Man and Man-faced Deer at Portal

Inspired by an Eskimo sculpture of a man-faced deer: once a year they would give a party for the spirits of the animals they had eaten. The deer-faced man is a Celtic symbol. Both evoke a time when people and animals were more intuitively linked. The door was formerly on the Johnson building, my studio. It stands at the gateway to the deep woods.

Culvert Dragon

Little Clown with Dancing Bear

On their way to entertain the Fisher King inside the Castle.

Parsifal and the Procession of the Holy Objects

After much searching, Parsifal found the Grail Castle, which lies close by, but generally remains hidden. Each evening before dinner the guests would watch an inspiring procession: maidens bearing the Holy Grail and the spear that pierced Jesus’s side. The King of the Castle lay grievously wounded a the feast and could not be healed until Parsifal asked the magic question: "Whom does the Grail serve?"

Three Knights

These three brothers appeared to me in a dream. They represent courage, faith and wisdom and are the Guardians of the Grail Castle.

Courage (with sword)

Faith (with shield)

Wisdom (with staff)

Fisher King

The Fisher King is ailing and cannot find fulfillment in the Holy Objects. Only fishing brings him solace. Healing will come when Parsifal remembers the question he was instructed to ask.

The Troupers A band of entertainers who seek to bring cheer to the ailing Fisher King.

Leader of the Troupe

Lutenist

Lady Acrobat

Sir Gawain on War Horse

Presiding over the grounds to ensure that no unchivalrous behavior takes place.

Gila Monster

Bad Guy from The Nervous Nellie Story, known as Gunwillie. Does dirty work for Baron von Krankshafft when he’s not losing at cards at the Bitter Moon Café.

Horn Toad in Log Cabin Facade

The toad’s name is Shambles. He is another Bad Guy in Baron von Krankshafft’s outfit.

1957 Buick Special

This Classic was put in a barn in Orland in 1965 when the owner died and there it sat for 30 years. It was driven to Deer Isle under its own power in the mid-nineties. You may open the doors, with care. Note the tissue dispenser under the dash with 1960’s Kleenex in it. 36,800 on the odometer is the original mileage. A sticker on the door indicates that the next oil change is due at 37,117 miles on April 1, 1965. The car figures in The Nervous Nellie Story where it is Baron von Krankshafft’s vehicle. Watch for his appearance behind its curved glass window with McConnico and Auger-Eye Bill, two of his henchmen.

Bull Truck Driver

Made for an exhibit at Congress Square Park in Portland.

Jack in the Box

Spent the New Year’s Eve of the century in the lobby of the Eastland Hotel in Portland.

Texas Longhorn Skull

Hun

Rides out of history in 20th century scrap: hat is a street lamp hood, which is what gave me the idea for the piece. Breastplate is from an auto exhaust system.

Cigar Man

Loves smoking cigars outdoors; been outside for 20 years.

Little House with Porch – NFS (Commission your own piece to hide your problems!)

When we got propane to heat the Jelly Kitchen we wanted to hide the tank. I made this façade out of recycled lumber and sculptures.

Shaman and Wolf

The shaman is communing with his animal self—this is why he has antlers. The contemporary shaman represents a dizzying juxtaposition of our ancient spiritual past and the modern world. Hence the lawn chair, leather jacket and hardware store necklace. The antlers are a scrapped piece of industrial plumbing, the eyes are an electrical connector, the nose is apple wood and the lips are lilac. The jacket was sent to me in a care package when I moved to Maine, by a friend who lived in southern California and thought I’d freeze. He bought in the Phillipines during the Vietnam War.

Dolphin

Western Sheriff

Made of stoneware when art school days provided access to a walk-in kiln. The star on his head is an impression of the star from a Texaco station. His vest pocket is from a state ashtray. Can you guess which state?

Party Man With Hat

Bon Vivant Wine Rack

The Card Game

Parrot

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Commissions cheerfully considered.
Peter Beerits
600 Sunshine Road
Deer Isle, ME 04627
1-800-777-6845

FINE PRINT:

Sales tax is applicable to all sales delivered in Maine. There is a delivery charge of 15-20% of value, depending on size and distance. Shipping and crating charges are determined on a case-by-case basis. A daily rate of $250 is applicable to sculptures that require installation.

PRICING:

Sculpture prices range from several hundred, to several thousand dollars each. For current pricing and availability, please contact us at sculpture@nervousnellies.com, or call.