Bears continue and a Halloween Party

I recarved the bears shoulder, as it was too high and long. Also, I have increased the depth of the hair texture. This was done with a masonry wheel on a 4" grinder. I will go over it a few more times to add texture and depth. It will be moved outside for the final texture. Having it out in the sun will help me to see areas that need more emphasis as well as areas that are a little raw and in need of refinement.

On the bears left side I am further refining the head and neck and applying a fur pattern. I am also cleaning up areas around paws, creases, etc.

I formed the faces with a die- grinder as I wanted to go slow and make sure they were positioned correctly, but now I have gone back with a 4" grinder to flatten out the planes of the bears muzzles.

As you can see from this view, the lower cub needs a bit more work on his face, but he's getting there.

Don and I are invited to a neighbors Steve Mcmillen and Alice Kimble's Halloween Party. Don is going as the Cowardly Lion (from the Wizard of Oz) and I am going as a Surinam Toad - they brood their offspring in their back. As you can see they are now in the process of leaving home.

Popeye takes a picture of Don as the Cowardly Lion.

Abrayah is a Goth girl.

A beautiful witch holding a cat with glowing eyes - it sings too.

Carrie and a Pimp. Of course if Carrie had gone to the prom with a pimp they would never have been voted King and Queen and her dress would never have gotten ruined and there wouldn't have been all those killings. But then that would be an entirely different book.

On the left is a Bounty Hunter, on the right a Lady Leopard.

Even Anthony, their dog was in costume. In case you haven't guessed it, he's a clown.

Finding the cubs, a show at Pyro

I am using a die-grinder to shape the cub's head. I am also using it to remove stone under the head.

I am opening the area around the ear and down the mother's leg. I am careful not to create a pocket that will hold water.

The cub is still blocky in feeling; I will refine it as I apply fur texture.

I am applying fur texture to the mother bear's leg. First, I made a pattern with a masonry wheel on a 4" grinder (right side of picture). Then, I come back with this little die grinder and make random, somewhat deep, cuts with this diamond wheel tool. I, then, use this same tool to make individual hairs, varying the pressure as I go to create dimension to the fur.

Here is the mother's leg with fur texture. I will move the sculpture outside before I am finished, to make sure everything looks the way I want it.

Al Nelson and Bob Lockhart have work included in a show at Pyro Gallery in Louisville, Ky. This is Don looking at a work in wood by Bob Lockhart.

This is a sculpture by Al Nelson. The center is stone and can be easily spun around because....

It has an hourglass inside! Really ingenious.

A woman admires another sculpture of Al's, as seen through Bob Lockharts sculpture.

A screech owl watched us, as we drove by.

Continuing the bear, and a party in the Indiana Hills

I have opened up the area between the bear's front leg and and back leg on her back side. I am just beginning to form the cub's leg and foot - barely visible in this photo.

Here is a view of the cubs play fighting on mom's belly, still have a bit of work to do on ... I was writing this Sunday night, when Don said, " Something's wrong with Grumpess". I went into the other room and there she was on her side, panting and pupils dilated. Don called Jefferson Animal Hospitals (open 24 hours) and they said "bring her in" and so we drove the hour and a half to the hospital (periodically checking to make sure she was still with us). They admitted her right away and put her on oxygen. Though the first meeting with the Doctor wasn't hopeful (her responses weren't good), ultimately she came around and made a full recovery . Below is a picture of Grumpess taken today -

the orange nose in the upper left corner is Mickey (another cat) rubbing against the camera.

Back to the bears. Here are the cubs play fighting on their mothers belly. I am working the faces slowly, leaving them a bit wide and working my way in to where they should be. I use a crayon to mark the center lines of the faces, where the eyes are, etc.


You can see that there is a lot going on here. Back of cubs head, mothers foot and mouth, two cubs and the cubs back foot. I have to be very careful to get everything to fit together.

I have opened up areas around the cubs paws using a die grinder. I will open it further with an air hammer.

Don and I were invited to Tom and Claire Burkhardt's farm for a celebration of their 20th Wedding anniversary. Here is a pic of Tom with the sculpture Don gave them.

At the party there was a Bluegrass band...

Lots of good food...

And pony rides!

A little girl sits on a bench Don did years ago, enjoying the music.

Here is a beautiful Weimaraner, not sure if her attention is on the music or the aromas from the food....

Grizzly sculpture continues, a visit to the bears final destination and a birthday party

The mother bear is holding the cub she is cleaning with both front paws. The left paw crosses over her chest and I am defining this area. This is slow work as the area fills up with dust making it difficult to read the form, so I have to repeatedly use the air hose to blow out the dust and make sure of what I am carving. I am also beginning to block out the cubs left ear another area I have to be careful of as the ear is right against it's mother's leg.

I have carved the mother bears belly more deeply which helps defines the legs and I have been further refining the mother bears feet.

Here is the bear from the left side. I had applied more of a fur texture to the cub and I am also getting better definition in the mother bears head and shoulders.

Here are most of the bear faces. It has taken a bit of time to get these the way I want, everything is so close I have had to be careful when working on one cubs face not to inadvertantly cut into the other cubs nose or paw. It has involved a lot of climbing up and down and working from various angles to make sure of what needs to come off. I have used a timber crayon to draw on the mouths. If I don't like the mark I can always erase it with sandpaper. Mark twice (or maybe 7 times) cut once, they say.

This play area is where the bear will be placed when it is completed. The round concrete pad under the green planter is it's final destination.

October 8th was my nephew Joeys 6th birthday, so I had to be there to see him blow out the candles and deliver my present to him.

Here is Joe in the present I gave him, a Hoberman Sphere. He really had a lot of fun playing with it and in it.

Here is a little guy that landed on me. I put him on a plant, but he came back as he was licking salt (or sweat) off my hand.

Meanwhile, back at the Bear...

I used a 4" angle-grinder to block out the mother bear's foot and claws. I will be back to further define the foot later.

I opened up the areas between the cub's legs and the mother with a die grinder. A hammer drill would be faster, but it might risk cracking the stone, as the cub's leg is not very thick. So, I opt for the slower, but safer, route of grinding.

I have further defined this whole side of the mother bear ( shoulder still needs work). I have been concentrating on feet and opening up the interior spaces of the sculpture, such as under the mother's head and back foot, etc.

Coming around the side of the piece, you can see that I have applied hair texture. I will be back for a couple more passes, to add dimension. The cubs are almost completely blocked, then they will be refined and furred.

The rear view of the sculpture.

This is how the cub on the belly looked, not too long ago. I had the left front paw too high, so I decided to move the elbow up and the paw down.

I have cut the paw down, so that the pad is against the mother's leg.

Another view.

Our neighbors invited us to their daughter's birthday pary at Jailhouse Pizza in Brandenburg, KY. It is in the old jail that overlooks the Ohio River. You can eat your pizza in the old jail cells which are made of heavy steel. Though everyone is interested in looking, most eat elsewhere in the Pizzaria.

The door leading to the dining area cell. (Not especially welcoming- diners check in, but they don't check out).

One of Abrayah's birthday gifts - cash - can't go wrong with cash.
(One size fits all).

This is a green heron in the slough.