Blocking Out Meg's "Reading Girl"

The main effort for this week was to remove excess stone from Meg's block for her Charles City, Iowa commission. The water that cools our diamond chainsaw will wash off any marks for the cuts, so I have to inscribe the lines with a grinder.

I made a cut 18" deep clear across the front face of the stone.

Then, I made the vertical cut for removing a notch out of the front of the block.

I drove wedges into the vertical cut to split the little bit of stone in the middle that the saw couldn't reach.

I used a pry bar to flip out the waste piece, when it was split free from the main block.

Going....

Going....

Gone! A 4,000 lb. waste piece hits the ground.

Next, I set up for cutting off the big corners. I have inscribed the outside 'box' of the form. You can see the diagonal china marker lines to mark the corners.

I cut off the smaller corner first.

This is the block at the end of the week. Over half of the original 28,000 lbs. has been removed.

Meg went to Terra Haute this week to review a potential sculpture site. While she was there she snapped this picture of their historic, Victorian-style Courthouse.

Meg snapped this shot of a Woodcock (aka 'Timberdoodle') that was sitting on the road leading back to the studio. They're very odd little birds. It did this strange up and down bobbing as it left the driveway. I think it was a warning, possibly for some chicks hiding near by?

...and the infestation of baby raccoons continues....(it's watching its mother very closely).