Friday, August 04, 2006

Mark Anthony: With Kinko in the 60s

An extremely rare photo from the Tegge Circus Archives, Mark and Glen "Kinko" Sunberry sitting on Kinko's trunk in the Ringling Alley in the mid-60s...


He was a master sculptor and prop maker. He loved to carve and created hundreds of different clown props from wood, paper mache and most famously, foam.

"Mark was the prince of foam carvers, and one time he carved a full-sized elephant out of foam. On the Red Unit in the 70s, I asked Mark about carving a skeleton. He told me how to start and what to do but it took me six months to carve a six foot one. All I had to finish was the skull. I kept working on it, carved out a lot of trial ones, but they all ended up the size of an orange by the time I finished 'adjusting' them down. Finally I got the right size and shape for a skull, and finished the skeleton after eight months."

- Frosty Little CIRCUS STORIES

When asked how you carve a foam elephant Mark's oft-quoted reply was, "Just cut away the parts that don't look like an elephant."


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