THE
Buzz
Always Spicy, Never Old
An homage to aftershave blossomed into a vocation that’s beautified Central Florida for 25 years. › By Brett Ballantini
W
hen you see the “Old Spice Guy” in advertisements, he’s a model of manliness taken way over the top. But metal artist Paul Tester is a true Old Spice guy—down to the work of art that launched his second career. Tester’s Glen Cove Metal Sculptures has been a Florida fixture for more than 25 years and, in that time, has become renowned for unique and customized designs that help customers beautify their homes. But Tester started his career as a sculpture artist in a most unlikely place—the United States Air Force. It was there he first started working with metals as an aircraft structural repair technician, teaching metal repair to other enlisted men. “One day I was disassembling a car for repair with my students, and I had an idea,” Tester says. “You know the ship that’s on the Old Spice bottles? I wanted to take the scrap metal from the repair and create a version of that ship. And after that, I never stopped.” Retiring after a successful career in the Air Force, Tester eventually settled in Florida and became a metalworking instructor for the Marion County school system. And by the end of the 1980s, Tester’s metal artwork had become a true vocation and labor of love.
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Tester has created hundreds of sculptures for individual collectors over the years (with a particular concentration in The Villages). His pieces also have sold nationwide, with buyers including Disney World, Miller’s Ale House and Universal Studios. His work for the original Universal Plaza at Universal in Orlando was particularly challenging, Tester recalls. The park had ordered copper palm trees for its front entrance that took hundreds of hours and incredible attention to detail to complete. When work takes hundreds of hours or there are new designs to execute, Tester calls on his key team members, longtime art assistants Giovanna Sanchez and Yesenia Ruiz. “I always say ‘two heads are better than one,’” Tester says. “I’m always open to new and innovative suggestions. Our main goal is to provide customers with an art piece they will love and be happy with for the rest of their lives.” Ruiz, also a singer who can be spotted throughout Central Florida performing in any number of popular styles, started her work with Tester in 2000, along with Sanchez.
“I’m mostly involved with the assembly and painting of the pieces, drawing, design and customer communication,” Ruiz says. “I have a passion for the creative process in anything I do, so making sculptures is a ‘do what you love’ job, and brings me peace and joy.” Although Ruiz graduated from the College of Central Florida with an Associate of Arts degree, Sanchez never intended to be an artist. Through Tester’s tutelage, she is now the brass-brazing specialist at Glen Cove and created her “Giovanna Tree,” an intricate copper/brass tree sculpture that is a standout on Glen Cove’s roster. Tester has just turned 80 but is churning out creative works as dutifully as ever. Collectors looking for the most spectacular metal art in the state, whether ordering custom pieces or finished works, owe it to themselves to check out Glen Cove.
FIND OUT MORE › The Glen Cove Metal
Sculptures studio can be visited by appointment only by calling (352) 201-3107. › You can also visit glencovemetalsculptures.com
and facebook.com/glencovemetalsculptures for additional details.