Heron progress, mystery sculpture progresses and spring arrives early

I am continuing work on the heron's tail feathers. I have completed the feathers all the way around but then I realized that the herons left side was not full enough so I will have beef up that side a little. Which means redoing some of the feathers on the his left side. Ah well...

I have been working on the herons toes as well, making them a little fuller, refining the form and adding a subtle texture. I then realized I had the middle herons toe too short, so I cut it and added some clay to lengthen it.

I make a subtle texture over areas of the heron's body as I finish each section. Beginning on the right side, I use a wood carving knife and lightly sweep it in a curve over the surface. The blade edge has been damaged and as a result leaves many subtle lines across the herons back.

I try varying numbers of greenery. I am keeping them to one side so that his legs are easily seen. The original model upon which this sculpture is based had a huge clump of vegetation and the bird almost disappeared.

I like this one the best. The angle of the plants work well against the angle of the heron's back.

This is alright, maybe if the blade to the far right was bending more to the left it would be better...

This is a thin section of clay that will be the long feathers that grace the heron's back and throat.

The mystery sculpture continues... any guesses?

We didn't have much of a winter, but it's nice to see daffodils again.

Heron progess, a visit to the remains of a mill and a spring peeper

I have had a few false starts with the feather pattern on the wings, but I think I've got something that will work. I want the feathers to be visible but not too defined.
I mark the pattern with a knife (far left) then cut around the edges. I use the knife to gently carve the shape of each feather.

I then use a wax tool to round the edges of the feathers and burnish them, smoothing down rough edges from the knife and making subtle definitions between the feathers.

After I do the feathers on one wing I place the heron in front of a mirror. I can then use the mirror image to match the pattern of the feathers on the other side of the bird. The overhead light illuminates both sides of the heron so I can be sure that both wings have a similar feel in terms of light and shadow.

The feather pattern changes at the tail, I have sketched in the tail feathers and have begun to cut them in.

We have had somewhat mild weather this winter so I have progressed with my "mystery sculpture" This is something I am working on just for me. Pretty soon you will be able to tell what it is.

With the nice weather Don and I decided to go see a mill that is on property that belongs to his distant cousin.

The mill is made of stone but the colors blend in so well with the surroundings you can barely see it through the trees.

The mill was built about 1800 and was used for grinding corn. A spring is located on the hill above the mill and as the flow was not enough to power the mill, a large dam was constructed just below the spring and above the mill. When it filled with water a gate could be opened so that water could go down the race and power the mill. As corn could only be ground when there was sufficient water, the owner of the mill ground surplus corn during times when it was wet and there was plenty of water to run the mill so that during dry times,when people came to have their corn ground,he would have ground corn to sell to them in exchange for their whole corn.

Looking through the front window to the collapsed back wall. It's amazing that there is still wood in the window, that in all this time it hasn't rotten away.

The chimney is all that remains of the home of the last person to run the mill. He ground corn in order to make whiskey and ended up being shot by the Marshall. His tombstone is near the house site.

Spring peepers were loudly proclaiming the pleasant weather.

This is a clump of moss, I'm not sure what the bluish plant is in the center.

Heron work continues, Daphne, frost on a spider web

I am refining various areas of the heron. When I made the heron legs they were somewhat rough, I go back with a soldering iron to refine them. I have done the leg on the left side, I have yet to smooth out the leg on the right.

The heron's left wing was a little heavy, I cut it back with a knife.

I use a metal wax tool to define the eye area. I then use the same tool on the beak to smooth and even out the texture.

I am trying out a bunch of plants with the heron. I like this better than what I had done in the model. Not quite right, though.

A side view.

I went over Daphne using a roloc (a small air=powered tool) with 120 grit sandpaper. I also smoothed out the bottom of the sculpture. Her left side is to the north and as a result is always in the shade. I need to turn her to the south so I can get the sun evenly on both sides.

We had a freezing fog the other day, thought this spider web encrusted with frost was pretty cool....

Tree of life molds depart for the foundry, The Heron progresses and The Brave Little Titmouse

The Tree of Life Molds are completed, now they need to be readied for their trip to the foundry.
Don puts the large mold section of the main tree trunk and branches together.

Each mold section is then wrapped in plastic to ensure they don't bounce apart in transit.

The leaf molds are then wrapped in discarded carpet padding we obtained from Fashion Floors in Ekron, KY. The shelf above is for the big tree mold to keep its weight from crushing the molds of the leaves.

R & L Trucking is then scheduled to pick up the crate.


Meanwhile, back at the Heron...

I roll out a cylinder of clay to make the toes of the Heron.

I pinch it with my fingers to make the clay and joints. Right now I am just roughing in the feet to check for proportion. I will come back and further define the toes.

I set the toes in place. I will check from different angles to make sure the feel is right.

In an earlier post I had feather sections to exaggerated, I decided to tone it down, making the general shape of the wing and then subtly cutting in where the feathers are. Right now I am just marking the feathers. I will come back carve the sections back.

I had the beak of the heron to wide at its base, I am cutting it back with a wood carving knife.

I have roughed in the plants and check the silhouette. I will play with the arrangement of the leaves, I am happy with the heron. I have removed the feathers on its head for the time being, I still need to work those out to my liking.

While feeding birds the other day I thought I would put some sunflower seeds in the Sea Lions mouth, just to see how long it would take for the birds to pick up on it. It took a couple of hours but then they realize - "Hey, there's seed in there." This is a Titmouse. It looks into the jaws of the predator....

and bravely sticks in his head!

The heron continues, First Friday art and watchers at the window

I continue work on the heron, building up the wings.
I turn the whole bird on the armature so I can get to the underside. This is an important view as the sculpture will be above eye level and the underside will be easily seen.
I fill out the neck and body of the bird and start refining the face.
I use a knife to define the the beak. I have also used it to begin shaping areas of the head. It leaves a subtle pattern.
I have blocked in the wings and am determining the patterns of the feathers.
This is one of the blades of grass which will be behind the heron. I use a wooden dowel as a support.

Don and I went to First Friday in Louisville to see Bob Lockhart's and Mike McCarthy's new work. Bob has a number of really great 2D works. Each one has a humorous (sometimes disturbing) description with the work. It's really worth seeing, we were glad to make the 3 hour round trip to see the show.

Mike McCarthy is doing quite well and has a natural flair for stone. 8 of 10 pieces in the show had sold - he is well on his way and someone to watch.
Speaking of watching - this little deer was watching me as I took his photograph.
And a watcher on the window

Heron sculpture begins

I begin the heron sculpture by building an armature with plumbing pipe, attaching it to a board with a flange. I used pipe left over from other jobs and , by chance, had the right length to have the "T" in the chest of the bird. I used 3/4" pipe for the main brace then used a reducer and 1/2" pipe and 1/2" "T" for inside the bird.

I then cut a piece of pink building foam into the approximate shape of the body of the bird.

I use a photo blown up to scale(the model is 6", the final sculpture is 24") of the finished piece to determine the position of the foam. Also,I have cut out a section on the far side of the foam to accommodate the plumbers "T" fitting through which I have placed a copper tube for the neck.
I don't glue the foam to the pipe, I use meat skewers at different angles to form a mechanical lock.

I cut off the skewers and begin to apply clay. This is a new clay I am using, Castilene. The hard version is like wax, yet when warmed can be modeled like clay.
I cover the body with clay...
I begin to form the head. I have also printed off a photograph of a heron to scale.

The heron blocked in.

I use the heat gun to warm the areas of clay that I have just added....

...then, use a flexible metal scraper to smooth the surface.
I begin to form the heron's face.

Birds come to eat the seed that I put on the window ledge.