Vitaly Stekanov created the sculpture “The Mistress of the Copper Mountain” in 2000. He based the image of his character on the Pavel Bazhov’s Ural fairy tales. The sculptor cast the hands and head of the Mistress in copper. He made the basis for the figure out of concrete, and then covered it with malachite mosaic, which formed a pattern similar to silk. The main material is not the stone plates, but mastic, a thick resin with additions of malachite powder. First, the artist covered the entire sculpture with it, and then added small pieces of stones with broken edges or naturally-shaped ones into the mixture.

The creator of the sculpture Vitaly Stekanov was born in the Kostanay region in 1927. During the war, he was called straight from school to the front and sent to Nizhny Tagil to a school for mechanic-drivers of the T-34 tank. Stekanov was in the army for seven years, after that he entered the Nizhny Tagil Art and Industrial School and graduated with honors in 1956. At the same time, the sculptor received another education in the specialty “Artistic processing of stone”.

Stekanov remained to teach at the school after graduating and worked there until 1980. At the same time, he led two creative clubs for children in the House of Pioneers, made monumental sculptures and small statuettes. Together with sculptor Ivan Bogolyubov, Stekanov created a monument to the workers of the Uralvagonzavod who died during the Great Patriotic War. Presently, it is installed in the memorial complex on the Square of Glory in Nizhny Tagil. In addition, he participated in designing the buildings of the Tagil Circus and the city committee of the Komsomol.

One of Vitaly Stekanov’s favorite genres was sculptural portraits. He created sculptures of friends, acquaintances, famous people. The sculptor himself considered the portrait of his father, which he created based on an old photo, his most valuable work.