Wet weather sends me inside to work and shots from the island

We've had a lot of rain lately - which we needed - but it's made it impossible to work on Daphne. Even when it hasn't rained the stone is still wet and if I do any carving dust will stick to the stone and make it difficult to read. I'll have to work inside... anyway it's good to get away from her for a while. When I come back I'll be able to see her with "fresh" eyes.

Back in April I was working this piece of marble and this was as far as I got before I put it on the back burner.

The stone was moved into the studio and placed up on platform. This has made a world of difference - the stone was way too low before and made working on it difficult. Having the sculpture up has made it much easier to see and work. I have carved the right arm (though it still needs work) and have generally refined the form.

I have worked a great deal on refining the face and making the leg thinner and generally worked all over the piece. I have crayoned where I think I will take the right arm.

This is the model for the 11 foot stone from an earlier post. I have roughly sketched out the model to see what can do in the stone. I have laid it on it's side so I can compare with the stone...

You can see that the stone is thicker than my model. I will not try to follow a silouette of the model, I can cut and remove a sizable area in a nearly straight line and at least get close to the form...

I accompanied Don to a client of mine who bought my limestone sculpture Ely . Ely is in good company, that's a Frederick Hart sculpture on the right of the photo, cast from Ex Nihilo which is on the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.. Don was helping them decide how to safely move a large (over 5 foot tall) jade sculpture into their yard.

I saw this plant out on our island and though it has been fairly chilly, I waded across to get photos. I looked in my guide book and the closest thing I could find was Goat's Beard.

Isn't this a funny looking thing? Looks like a little creature climbing up the log. I think this might be a slime mold.

I spent quite a while exploring the island taking photos. This is my favorite shot.

Daphne continues, an art show and a friend and neighbor turns 50

This picture is showing how I will handle interior leaves. Just under the swirl of leaves in the top half of the picture you can see a pattern in the stone beneath them. This is how I plan to handle all the interior sections. I will give an indication of leaves using a round diamond burr. This will help keep the movement I'm looking for in the piece without doing all those individual leaves.

On Daphnes right hand I use a diamond wheel on a die grinder to cut between the fingers. This is how I make deep shadows between the fingers.

You notice I don't cut between the knuckles. I used a pistol grip sander to smooth out the form of the hand then came back with a round burr on a die grinder to form the knuckles and bones of the hand. The areas that have been formed by the burr have a lighter appearance. Once I have refined it further I will sand the whole area. Though I won't use a sander, I will hand sand it with 80 grit paper.

These are some of the burrs I use. The ones on the left are for more suble carving, the ones on the right are for hard edges and deep crevices.

Al Gorman (in the grey jacket between the rabbit and the man sculpture) and Scott Scarboro have a show at Bellarmine University's McGrath Gallery. Al makes people and creatures from styrofoam and driftwood he finds at the Falls of the Ohio. He posts his explorations at the falls and his sculptures on his blog, http://artistatexit0.wordpress.com/ . Scott Scarboro had a lot of fun work (the large paintings on the wall are his) as well as some kinetic sculptures that are really cool. On the right side of the photo is an old friend of mine, Geoff Carr. He used to photograph my paper sculptures long, long ago...

A heron by Al Gorman, the inspiration for this piece is a common sight at the falls.

Saturday we were invited to our friend and neighbor's 50th birthday party. His name is Steve and he has been on earlier blogs doing molds on the Home of the Innocents sculptures and the Light of Hope and Healing. He's also had us to his house for his 4th of July and Halloween parties which are lots of fun...

The party was held at the Bourbon Bistro. The food was great, a fun time was had by all...

The weather has been very nice lately and we left the door open. Unfortunately a hummingbird flew in and then found it couldn't get back out. It was between the blinds and the window which made release really easy. Just open the window, and away he flew....

Don's Sculpture installed at Purdue University, Daphne and a new project

Dereck Sheroan of JBB Inc. loads Don's sculpture 'Man and Technology' onto the flatbed truck that was rented from Penske. Dereck is a very skilled operator and handles each job with care.
Don, on the truck, removing the rigging and preparing to strap down the sculpture.

This is the newest project for me. The plan was to move it to the end of the building and stand it upright. The stone is about 12' long.
The building was put up after this stone was brought in and as a result the crane can't get right up next to it. The crane had to be set up a couple of times before it was close enough to lift the stone. It weighs 13,000 lbs and was right at the limit of what the crane could lift. We got it close to where we are going to stand it up but we are running out of time - we need to get on the road with Don's sculpture. I will drop some weight off of the stone where it is. Stay tuned....

We set out for West Lafayette. Along our route we saw this group of classic cars. I took many, many photos out the truck window, I managed to get a few good pics.



We arrived at Purdue's Picket Park the next morning. Don leaves the parking lot to drive around to the site Purdue has it's own crane - even has boiler maker insignia -they also provided the operator.

Tom Eisman is the Chairman of the Arts Committee at Purdue. Don and he have worked together through the whole process. Only fitting that he helps Don with setting the sculpture in site.
Man and Technology in its new home.
Another view. To the far right is Don's other sculpture in this park. See Don's blog
http://restlessrocks.blogspot.com/ for pics of that sculpture and more photos of the installation.

Tom suggested we stop and see these sculptures, a Butterfield sculpture in the foreground, a large bronze sculpture by Aizkorbe in background and between, a creation of sapling trees which was fun to explore.

Don exploring...

Back to Daphne, I have been cleaning up leaves. The underside of these leaves are somewhat rough so...

I use a die grinder with a diamond burr and clean them up. I do that again and again and again.....

I am using a 4 1/2" angle grinder with a diamond wheel to make deep cuts through the leaves for dark shadows. The leaves I originally cut with a masonry blade on an angle grinder. I get a more fluid feel with a 4" blade than I do with a burr on a die grinder.



A praying mantis cleans it's foot....

Don readies Hand for Purdue Installation, a new project begins

Temperatures have been in the 90's, and since cooler days have been forecast, I have put Daphne on the back burner until those cooler days arrive.

Don's piece "Man and Technology" is to be installed at Purdue University this next week.

The sculpture is pressure washed and then, a breathable sealer will be applied. Next, it will be loaded onto a truck for the trip to Purdue.

As Don's sculpture will require a big crane; it just makes sense to utilize it for any other lifting needs. This is a rough maquette for a stone that I have, though it needs a crane to set it upright.

This is the stone, which measures 12 feet long. If you look closely, I have cut the profile of the maquette into the surface.

Don has made the bottom of the stone flat for me. When the crane comes, it can be set upright and I can get started on it.

I have been putting together packages for public art projects - called 'request for qualifications' (RFQ) or 'request for proposals' (RFP). The images have to be burned onto cds. When I opened this pack of cds, I thought "this would make a good photo....I'll call it Infinity..."

This is a froglet on my finger. I took this pic back in June, saw it today and thought I would include it. Such a tiny guy, he still has his tail.