Sculptor unveils cathedral doors

J. Chester "Skip" Armstrong unveiled the massive doors he created for a cathedral in Boise, Idaho, last week.

Father Thomas Faucher, former pastor of St. Edward the Martyr Catholic Church, commissioned the doors for his current church in Idaho. Father Faucher, accompanied by a team of architects, visited Craig Woodard Lumber Co. in Prineville for the unveiling.

"What started as an idea in my mind as Father Faucher read a passage out of Revelations about the seven-headed dragon attacking the virgin queen, defended by Archangel Michael, led to a sketch on paper, a journey to Belize and now into the physical dimension - this is it!" Armstrong said.

Armstrong had to travel to Belize to craft the doors. He could legally ship finished mahogany products into the U.S., but Belize would not allow the lumber to be shipped raw.

"The first two weeks were spent getting the wood together for the door timbers," Armstrong said. "Mahogany, 12-inch-by-18-inch-by-16-feet, proved to be difficult to get as most of the big trees have already been cut.

"We tracked through the jungle's deep mud and finally found the hurricane-damaged trees we were looking for. With help from the local Mayans, we assembled the doors and on day 15 I drew the image on the surface with a piece of chalk and began carving with the chainsaw."

Armstrong could barely contain his excitement as he worked.

"I started sculpting the dragon first as I could hardly wait to see what it was going to look like 14 feet high and 20 inches deep," he said. And Wow! It looked like the serious contender for bad-ass of the universe. But, Father Faucher said he liked drama."

Sisters artist Steve Frandsen modeled the warrior  Archangel Michael and the battle was on. 

"Finally the door was starting to balance and I began to think that it might work as a church door after all," Armstrong said.

Anastacia Scott modeled as Mary.

"On Easter Sunday the sun set on Mary's face and Anastacia and I sat back in awe of what we had created," Armstrong recalled. "It was good."

The last week in Belize was spent crating and shipping. The next step is to ship the huge doors to install them in Boise.