"Sun Ray" stone trough

After I finished the "Wave Urn", I decided to make a stone trough. There are a lot of antique stone troughs in England, that were used to water horses. I wanted to make a contemporary functional sculpture based on that traditional form.

I used the crane truck to mave a 1,500 lb. stone block onto some wood cribbing.

After a couple days, I had a preform beginning to take shape. Most stone troughs are rectangles (which are compositionally boring). I used various diagonal compositions to add visual interest to the piece.

This is the final version. I used the shape of the stone block to its full potential by creating a diagonal 'sun ray' emerging from the grey stone. The concept of the piece is about the inevitable 'ray of Hope' that will come out of any grey day.

I also made some design features inside the trough. It has a stippled texture on the bottom, for visual interest, if it is not used as a planter. There is also a 'ray' that cuts diagonally across the sides of the trough.

This is how my stone angel looked when I finished with it a couple weeks ago.

While I was out doing errands earlier this week, I asked Meg to see what she could do to improve the piece and she worked her magic! She reworked the face, neck and body of the angel over two days. It's a vast improvement! I can't wait to see the final version.

My new roommate, Catrina, helps me with the laundry.

(Like, I didn't see that coming!)