Bear work continues, snow and cold and Seasons Greetings

I open the area between the mother's paw and the cub's body with a large die-grinder.

The interior has been difficult to work in and has proven slow. I have crayoned around the nose, as it needs to be a bit smaller.

I have defined this cub's brow and eyes and have started to deepen the crease between the cub's head and the mother's leg.

I have been refining this cub's face, adding detail and softening the form.

I have work in the new Book "Bernheim" written by Sharon Receveur and Tavia Cathcart. It is a fascinating book covering Isaac Wolfe Bernheim's life, the creation of Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, the various species of plants and animals that can be encountered there, as well as the art projects and sculptures located at Bernheim. Paul Fields is well represented in the book with photos from the time he was artist in residence, creating the "Snail", as well as installing "Blossom" which is dedicated to his mother. Paul was the first sculptor in the Louisville area carving large stone and paved the way for the rest of us (Don, Al Nelson, Matt Weir, myself and many others).

There are two images in the book of my sculpture "Emerging" which was donated to Bernheim by Varley Weideman.

I was walking down by the creek and found snowflakes caught in a spiderweb.

A titmouse on the clothesline in today's snow.

Season's Greetings! Here is this year's greeting card, poem and photo (copyright Meg White 2010).

4 Grizzly Bears and 2 open houses

I have been working on the interior areas of the bear, deepening shadows and applying hair patterns.

I'm detailing the top cub. Some of the crayon marks are to show me the fur pattern, and other marks for the bridge of the nose, which needs a bit more definition.

I bounce back and forth between various areas - a little nose carving here, a bit of eye defintion there, and then there is always fur pattern to be done.

This shot shows a bit of each cub and the mother's face.

Don and I went to Charlie Oldham's open house to see what kind of fossil and crystal goodies he had for sale ... and he has lots - fossils, dinosaur teeth, crystals, jewelry...

A couple of big kids looking for pretty rocks...

Lots of crystals at Charlie's Rock Shop...

There was lots of good food and entertainment.

After Charlies Rock shop, we visited the Studio Works open house. Located at the corner of Bardstown Rd. and Eastern Parkway in Louisville, Ky., it provides an artistic outlet for people with mental disabilities. The work is fun and inventive - these are various food items - roast turkey, banana split, etc. in glazed clay.

Detailing a cub, Thanksgiving and Freezing Fog

I am finishing the cub on the belly first. I use a pointed bit to work around the edge of the eye.

I have used a flat end bit to accentuate the fur on the cub's cheeks while making the hair on the muzzle more flat.

Another view of the "Belly cub".

A side view of the cub on its mother's belly.

To define the pads of the foot, I use an air tool called a Roloc with a 120 grit sanding disk.

Thanksgiving was at my twin Sister's in-laws. Her husband, Steve, cooked the turkey.

This morning, there was a freezing fog....

which left lots of ice crystals to be found in the shadows.

My nephew is now an Eagle Scout!

I am adding another blog tonight in honor of my nephew Danny who just made Eagle Scout. Only 1 in 50 boy scouts ever achieves this highest rank, so of course, it's a big deal.

Danny is ready for the ceremony to begin. In front of him, from left to right, are his sister, Beth, my twin sister Liz and her husband Steve.

Danny's project for his Eagle Scout merit badge was to catalog over 2,000 books for the West End School for Boys in Louisville, Ky. Cassius Clay was a student here, many years ago.

Here's Dan in an "after" shot.

Dannys Grandfather and I play dueling cameras.

Dan gives his speech.

Dan takes his pledge as an Eagle scout.

And there were pins for Danny, his father and mother. Congratulations Danny!

And following the ceremony -Cake!

Finishing touches on the Bears and sky high photo

While I am working on the hair pattern, I check both sides to make sure the pattern is somewhat consistant. I am working in various areas, refining the cub's feet, opening up the areas between the cub's legs and the mother's, as well as refining her face, nose and eyes.

This is the mother's right forearm. I have used a diamond wheel tool on the fur at the bottom of the photo. The testure at the top is from a masonry wheel on an angle grinder. You can see how much more dimension is achieved by using the diamond wheel. It is a lot more work, though. Also, you need a good strong light from the side in order to really see what you're doing.

This is a flared flat ended diamond tool on a small die-grinder for putting hairs on the cub's foot. I do a lot of shaping with this tool, as I put on the hair.

I use the same tool for cutting in the nose of this cub.

It's also handy for setting the eye back into the skull.

I use a larger die-grinder to open the area between the mother bear's leg and the cub's leg. I work the area from both sides until I have it opened.

How did I manage to get a photo of the property from so high up? I'll never tell!

This is some insect work going on here - this is from earlier in the year, just ran across it and thought it was interesting.

More die grinder work, hair patterns and a nest platform for osprey

I use a large die grinder with a silicon carbide bit to work out stone between the cub's body and the mother's leg. You may notice that this cub is very unfinished. I leave different areas unfinished as I apply a hair texture, to give me a break from all those hairs! I come back to these unfinished areas and do a little defining and cleaning up between hair-applying sessions.

I use the die grinder to deepen the area under the mother's paw and head, to give the area some good shadows.

I am using two separate diamond bits to give the mother and cub different fur textures. For the mother, I use a wheel bit and long strokes. For the cub, I use a flat end bit and short strokes.

I have completed the fur pattern part way up the mother's front leg.
The electric company put in new lines the other day.

And what's that in the field by the creek? A nest platform for Ospreys. We'll see next year if it appeals to prospective Osprey parents.

Die grinder work

I have been using a die grinder to define the cubs and make them "pop" visually.

I work behind the ear...

under the foot...

between the cubs head and mothers leg...

a then there is a little bit of manicure work to do...

This cub has been crayoned in preparation of die grinder work.

A Daddy Longlegs grooming a leg.

and a branch holding the moon.