The second sculpture for the Home of the Innocents and the beginning of the ice storm.

We have been without power for 6 days because of an ice storm that hit Kentucky Tuesday January the 27th. However, power has been restored! (at least for us). There are still many thousands more in Kentucky still without electricity and the windchill is below zero.

I have begun work on the second sculpture for the Home of the Innocents. The first sculpture will be located at Sister Emily Coopers' grave. This second sculpture will go to the area where most of the children are buried. The second sculpture shows Sister Emily Cooper shaking out a child's blanket, which has a pattern of butterflies upon it. At the top of the blanket, they are becoming real butterflies and are taking flight. This piece symbolizes the children's spiritual release from this world.
This is a maquette of the sculpture. In order to create the final sculpture, I have to determine where the armature will go. I take measurements from the maquette which will tell me where to place the main pipe. It will go through the center of her body, and determine the position for the armatures that support the arms and blanket. I attach a floor flange to a four foot wide piece of plywood that I have cut into a circle. The plywood circle is placed on a large turntable, so that I can spin the piece easily, to work on different areas.

I use galvanized pipe for the armature.

The body is first shaped with construction foam. I have cut sections of foam with a hole in the middle to fit down over the pipe that serves as an armature for the center of the sculpture. Taking measurements from the maquette, I have cut out the profile of the torso in 4 pieces of foam. I then glued the pieces together with wood glue, so that I will have 2 halves (left and right side of the body). I then slotted out a section of one half so that it will fit over the pipe. I use wood skewers to attach the 2 halves to the pipe.

I cut down the foam to form the torso. I need to make sure I cut off enough as I will be adding clay to flesh out the sculpture.

I use Chavant clay which is an oil based, sulfur free clay. It is fairly hard at room temperature so I need to heat it before I can pack it on to the foam. I cut the clay in slices about 1/4" thick and place them on black plastic - the plastic is large enough to cover the clay slices. Then this plastic is on a towel which is also big enough to cover the clay slices. This is then placed on a water bed heater which gives a gentle even heat.

The warmed clay is applied to the foam.

The arms have been cut from foam and attached with wood skewers.

On Monday we woke to snow and sleet. It was too treacherous to drive back to the studio. I feed the birds every day and felt it was important to make the walk. They especially need to have seed in such inclement weather. The studio is about 1/2 mile from the road. When we were walking back, the freezing rain had begun...

This is the first section of road leading back to the studio.

This is the next section

Don trudges through the rain..... little did we know how much this road would change in the next two days....

A spent flower encased in ice. But there is more ice to come.... much, much more...

Cougar Installation

My Cougar sold at the first annual sculpture show at Yew Dell Gardens and made a trip from the gardens to his new home. I have a bare patch at the studio where he used to reside. Ah well... Here is the cougar when it was still at the studio...

Bramer Crane Service moved the cougar, first loading it onto a flatbed truck from Penske Truck Rentals. The crane is preparing to lift the cougar while Don sets the rigging.
This is a choker hitch, where each strap is wrapped around the sculpture.

The cougar is lifted up. The cougar is strapped onto the truck and departs Yew Dell Gardens for it's new home near Lagrange, KY.
Here is where the Cougar is now residing

The crane moves into position and Don backs the truck so that he can get along side it.The cougar is rigged up again for it's final move to a 24 inch deep footer. The footer will keep the sculpture from leaning.In this photo you can see softeners that are placed between the straps and the stone. This helps protect the strap from edges on the stone.Here is the cougar is his new home. I need to get back on an overcast day for a good pic.
This is Ophelia. While she is upright and dry in this photo, she also leans back and fills with water (she is created from a triangular shaped stone with two stones for supports).

Home of the Innocents sculpture

These are materials I used to build up the armature over the pipe.

Pink construction foam is attached with liquid nail and wooden skewers which help stabilize the foam. A knife is used to cut the foam to the desired shape.
After the foam is blocked in, I pack on clay. This is an oil based clay called Chavant HP.
I use sidecutters to remove the ends of the wooden skewers.
A detail of the dove and child. The arms have been removed so that detail on the doves tail can be applied. The arms will be reattached when the work is finished.
One of the babies arms.

Here is the sculpture as of August 3rd, 2008. I am still working the clay on around the edge of the skirt. Next will come finish texture.

Home of the Innocents monuments

I am creating two sculptures that will be placed in Cave Hill Cemetery to mark the grave of a
Sister Emily Cooper, an Episcopalian Nun who was the primary caretaker of Home of the Innocents of Louisville,KY and the as yet unmarked graves of some 200+ children. Home of the Innocents was originally an orphanage from the late 1800s - 1920s.
The photo below shows Sister Emily Cooper's grave site.

The sketch below shows a preliminary concept for the monument that will be placed at her grave. The monument symbolizes her important work with the children (lifting the child) and ultimate spiritual guidance (the dove). The concept and design for this piece is that of Don Lawler, though I worked out the sketch. It will be more fully developed in 3 dimensional form. This is the site for the Children's monument.
This is the design for the Children's site. It represents Sister Emily Cooper shaking out a blanket upon which are incised images of butterflies. At the end of the blanket the butterflies are becoming 3 dimensional. This symbolizes the journey of the children through her care (represented by the blanket) to their spiritual release (represented by the butterflies taking flight). The names of the children will be carved upon the granite plinth.This is the clay model or maquette for the monument which will be placed at Sister Emily Cooper's grave site. The skirt is fuller and has more movement than the original sketch. Also she has full sleeves.

Here the sculpture is laid out using the original sketch for the main armature. Plumbing pipe is used to form the armature.

The metal armature.Foam is added to the armature.