What's in a load of stone?

The last load of stone that I bought was 5 years ago - on my 59th birthday June 15, 2020.  I'm getting ready to order another load, so I asked myself, "What'd ya do with the last one?"

The block with 11.2 painted onto it weighs 11,200 lbs.

I cut it into 2 preforms: this one...

...and this rectangular piece from the top right of the block.

The main piece became "One Way or Another", which was sold to the City of Pfugerville, Texas.

The other piece became "Go With the Flow" which is on exhibit at the University of Louisville Alumni Center.

This 10,000 lb. block became...

"Thunder & Lightning"

and the top right corner of the block became this KY Ridgeback Dragon.

This 6,000 lb. block became...

"A New Dawn"

I had a quarry block cut into slabs.

The 16" slab and 3" slab made the base for "Hope" which was installed at a private estate in Oldham Co. KY.

A piece off the end of the 16" slab became the base for "Boost".

The two 8" slabs and scraps from the 3" slab became benches and bird baths.  

This is "Growing Together".

"Geyser"

"Mushrooms"

"Cloud 12" which is the only one that hasn't sold yet.

"Wild Rose" is the only bird bath that hasn't sold yet.  All the others found homes in the Louisville area.

"Quadrillium" 

"Carpe Diem"

There are various smaller corners that might have become smaller pieces or bases. Some are still laying out in the weeds waiting for their turn to be carved. But this accounts for the main bulk of the load.

 

Stone Dragon Sculpture

While I was making my motorcycle sculpture, I split off a large 800 lb. corner.

It was an odd shape.  But when I flipped it onto its flat side, I could "imagine dragon".

It's not just any dragon.  This is a Kentucky Ridgeback.

It measures 24"H x 37" long x 20" side-to-side and weighs approx. 400 lbs.

...and moving cautiously around the beast...

This is a juvenile - only about a year old.

Adults get MUCH bigger!

 

"Thunder & Lightning" monumental sculpture

I bought a 10,000 lb. block of Indiana Limestone on my 59th birthday, June 15, 2020.

It was delivered to the studio, along with 35,000 lbs. of other stone.

It laid there for 3 years while I worked on other projects.

During the winter of 2023, I came up with this clay model for the block.

I had even started to cut a preform for the piece in early spring.  Here's a post about this

restless rocks: "Flight of Fancy" monumental sculpture

But, I stopped - it just didn't "feel" right...

A good friend died in November of 2023.  While designing his memorial, I'd briefly considered doing a full-sized motorcycle based on a 1956 Harley-Davidson hydra glide.  I made a clay model and drew the design onto this block over the existing preform (because it was a perfect fit).  Ultimately, I decided to go with a marble memorial.  Here's the post for that

restless rocks: Paul Allen Monument

During the winter of 2024, I came up with this crude clay model for fun because motorcycles were still on my mind... I had motorcycles as a young man and still have a motorcycle license.  For me, they represent freedom.  It felt "natural" to use lightning bolts and thunderclouds to make up the forms.  

After living with the model for a couple months, I was sure that I'd prefer a motorcycle of lightning bolts and thunderclouds over the "Flight of Fancy" idea.  On August 22, 2024, a crane stood the block onto its side...

...and moved it over to the shady side of the studio.

You can still see the drawing from the original Harley.

But I wanted to do my own thing and not make something that already exists.  The model was a good starting point, leaving lots of room for coming up with the details as I worked.

So, a year later, here's the finished piece. 8' long x 4' high x 2' (life-sized to a real Harley) and 4,000 lbs.

Here's the other side before carving...

...and after.  I'm happy with the piece.  I can't wait to get it moved out into the grass where I can get better pictures.

 

Caboose Moved Out

The railroad caboose was bought in 1997.  Originally, our plans were to use it as an office and break room for our studio.  28 years passed and it was never fixed up.  So, it got listed on Craigslist where a general contractor from St. Charles, MO saw the ad.  He made the trip to see it in person on Friday, Sept. 19 and laid down the deposit.

On Tuesday, Sept. 23, a welder from Wilmore, KY came to cut the steps off etc. to prepare it for leaving.

Wednesday Oct. 1 was the day for moving it out.  It started before sunrise with the contractor's crew loading up all the misc. smaller pieces before the crane and trucks showed up.

(all the photos from this one onward were taken by Meg White)

This is a 120 ton Liebherr crane from General Steel of Elizabethtown.  It's the biggest crane that we've had out here (so far).  It had a semi to carry its counterweights, pads and rigging.

The crane guys scoped everything out before getting set up.

I'd never seen a big crane with remote controls before.

These huge steel pads were fabricated by the crane operator (I was impressed).

It took a bit to get totally set up.  Here you can see the spreader bar and rigging in place.

Finally it was time for the lift.  The buyer is in the foreground ready to video the move.

The body of the caboose lifts off the 2 sets of wheels.

It was set on a lowboy trailer that extended for long loads like this.  (Totally a class act!)

Then, we rigged up the trucks...

and set one behind the caboose and the other temporarily off into the grass.

We hooked up the rails.

The contractor's crew knocked the crossties off the rails after it was picked up a little bit.

The last one was in a bind and wouldn't let go.  But, where there's a will, there's a way.  These guys worked hard! 

The rails and the 2nd set of wheels were loaded onto a smaller truck.  Everything was tied down and moved out.  It wore me out by the time everything got safely down my twisty 1/2 mile driveway and onto the highway.  For me, this was... bitter/sweet.  You might say, "an end of an era".  I would have liked to have fixed it up, but instead I can put the money toward something with a higher priority.