Work progresses and the start of two more sculptures

One thing that I do, that helps me to work out a sculpture, is to take a photo of it and then manipulate the image in Photoshop. I used the pencil tool to add lines to see what areas that I need to remove. In the old days, I would take photos and have them developed and then draw on the photo.

This is the view from the front. I am working out where the leg needs to be. Also, her face and hair are too wide. I need to make the back thinner, but I need to be careful not to remove too much, as this is a stacked piece and I need to keep it fairly thick and substantial to support the top block.

I have started working out where the hand is going to be. The second block has a lot of extra stone protruding, which I am going to incorporate into the piece as drapery. This will be a lot more interesting than if it was cut off.

Another piece, that I am starting, is for the Yew Dell show in May. I am going to carve out a basin with lily pads for a lifesize bronze otter. This will be a fountain with water cascading over the side. The stone is a little big for the otter, so I need to cut it down. First, I drill with a hammerdrill....(photo Don Lawler)

My view of the drill.

I hammer feathers and wedges in to split the stone..(photo Don Lawler)

Another stone for Yew Dell- this is Alabama White Marble from Sylacauga Alabama. I will be bouncing between these three sculptures for the show.

We have had a lot of rain, and the lower part of the propery has flooded. Eddie calmly takes it all in.

A couple of goldfinches at the feeder.

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.

Carving the Grizzly and Ely SOLD!

This is the left side of the bear. I have been removing stone from the rear leg of the mother bear. Under the mother's foot you can see (if you really use your imagination) where the cub clinging to it's mothers leg will be.

A great deal of stone needs to come off around the bears back legs. The block is also too long and needs to be cut down. At the bottom of the stone, on the right, is a quarry dog hole, which will need to be cut out. These holes (there are two for every block) are made for quarry dogs, metal tong-like devices which are used to lift stone out of the hole. Cutting out the hole was awkward as the bear curves under and I needed take out just enough to get rid of the hole. I kept thinking I was done, but the hole was packed with gravel. It just went on and on. I finally got it, though.

I am using an angle-grinder with a diamond wheel to make cuts into the stone. I make a series of cuts (you can see these cuts under the wheel of the grinder) and then break them off with a hammer. Sometimes, I cut the sections off with the grinder by cutting across at a right angle.
I use a hammer to break off cuts of stone.

A little piece of stone (lower right) got in my eye while carving. I thought that I'd share this with you.

Great news! Ely sold at Yew Dell Gardens!

These are blackberries. I never realized that they had these coverings. I searched for what these coverings might be called, but had no luck. They look cool, though, like Sundew plants.

Another Reading girl update

I have worked on her right hand and arm today. Having the maquette in her lap helps me to see the detail of the fingers.


This is the side view of the sculpture. She stills needs a great deal of refining....



I am working out the earthwork and the plantings for the lower half of the sculpture. I have placed pins where the plants will go. The plants will grow 4 -6" high and fill the area between the berm and the sculpture. As the location for the sculpture is
shady I will be using Vinca Minor for the planting. The particular variety I have selected is called Atropupurpea and has a purple bloom and has a more prostrate form than other varieties of vinca minor.

The stone arrives for the Charles City commission of "Girl Reading"

Vessels Trucking - that's Leon Vessels, owner over on the right watching- delivers the rock for the Charles City job.

The raw block is much larger than I need so sections need to be removed. First of all a large section needs to be
removed so that the locally available crane can remove it from the truck. Don drills holes and puts in feathers and wedges in order to spit off the section of stone.

The wedges are hammered in until the stone cracks.

The crane arrives and we remove the stone from the truck to steel wheeled cart next to the shop.

Using the model, it was determined which sections would need to be removed using the chain saw. If we didn't have the saw I would have taken the stone to a sawyer in Bedford Indiana to make the necessary cuts to this piece. Although I couldn't have had the first right angle cut made there, they would only be able to cut curners off.

Don takes the saw across the face of the block, cutting the maximum depth of 18"

Then he makes another cut from the top. There will be an area in the middle of the stone that is not cut, but wedges and a hammer will form a break across that section of stone.

Don hammers in the wedge

After the remaining stone has broken, Don can lever off the section of stone. Going...

Going..

gone.

Daphne refinement and photos of ice

I am finishing up Daphne, refining areas all over the piece; the body, limbs and leaves. I am experimenting with different textures for the trunk of the tree.
It is slow work finishing up the leaves, I want to have as much movement as possible.

I have spent a lot of time working out areas inside the piece, smoothing out chisel textures, etc.

I will refine the leaves further, but I have to be careful not to get the sculpture too fragile as it will have to be loaded onto a truck when goes to its new home.

Last spring I took a lot of macro photos of flowers. Now that it is winter, the flowers are all gone, but there is still beauty to be found, you just have to look close...

This is a photo of frost - the temperature was about 5 degrees, and I saw pockets of large crystals in the grass.

This is a closeup of a leaf in a frozen pond.

A tiny forest of ice crystals

An oak leaf in a frozen pond.

Article in Kentucky Homes and Gardens Magazine

My sculpture is featured in this months issue of Kentucky Homes and Gardens Magazine. The article was written by Albertus Gorman, an artist and writer who lives in Louisville Kentucky. The Cover of the magazine.

The first two pages show me working on the "Opportunity Portal" in the top picture and

the "Waking Muse" underneath.

On the third page is the sculpture "Connections", which was just installed at LSU Baton Rouge. On the left column of the right page is a bronze casting of "Ely".

Here is the female hippo from the group I did for the North Carolina Zoo and below is an Otter water feature.

You can get the magazine at bookstores in Louisville, Lexington and the Cincinnati area. You can also get them free at various art gallery locations in those cities. Check it out!