Quarry Run

I haven't posted on this blog in a while because we've been really busy - more than usual.

On April 29, work resumed on the addition, when 4 guys with Gary Hicks Insulation showed up to blow in cellulose insulation.

April 30, we went to the Pollard's house near Westport, Kentucky. Their son, Tedd, was hosting a fund raiser for the bands with his company, Music Coming Back, or MCB records. You can download their mp3's at www.mcbmusic.com. The event was on the back deck, right next to the flooding Ohio River - it was a really cool scene!

They had set up a tent over the area for the bands. This is Lotus Blake, my personal favorite of the evening.

On May 5, I went to Bloomington to pick out some stone. Matt Weir, a fellow sculptor and good friend of ours, wanted to go, so I rode up with him. Orleans, Indiana was still experiencing flooding. This Amish is riding his horse down highway 37, while we had to take a detour.

I found this large, high-quality stone at what used to be called Victor Oolitic. They have merged with Indiana Limestone since I was here last. On the left, Duane Foster is calculating the weight of the block. Matt is in the background, about to take a picture.

There was a defective layer along one side that would have added too much weight for the semi. So, Duane called for a loader to pick up the rock...

...and take it to a diamond band saw, where they sliced off the unwanted layer.

Vessels Trucking of Rhodelia, Kentucky hauls our stones. We've worked with Charlie, the driver, before, on several jobs. It's great to have experienced people that you can count on.

This particular stone, at 30,000 lbs., was too big for our regular crane company to unload. We used Padgett Crane from New Albany, Indiana, who sent out a 50 ton crane. The operator's name is Barney - he knew his stuff. (and a pretty good sense of humor, which always helps).

Charlie is climbing down off the rock before we do the lift. That's one big rock! It has a particularly tight grain, and I can't wait to see what Meg will make out of it.

University of Louisville presentation

Last Saturday, Meg and I spent a memorable afternoon with Dick and Ardi Wilson. They treated us to a great brunch at the Meridian Cafe and then invited us to their home to discuss commissions for Meg and myself. There's a LOT more to this story, and I'll post more as things progress. In the right of the picture is one of my sculptural benches that Dick acquired in the early 90's.

Meg snapped this view inside their home.

The good weather continued through the first half of the week, and I was able to make this progress on my life size limestone figure.

Wednesday night - meatloaf and potatoes.

Thursday, we gave a presentation to Ed Hamilton's public art class at the University of Louisville. This is Matt Weir, a local sculptor and a good friend of ours, who is assistant to Ed in teaching the class.

The most enjoyable part was when Ed treated Matt, Meg and myself to drinks afterwards.

This intense week ended on a real high note. I may have found a home for this piece...

...and this one, too. I'll post more, as plans become more solid.

Vandalia "Chiseled" Stone Symposium

Monday, Meg and I visited the Vandalia "Chiseled" stone symposium in Vandalia, Ohio, which is just a few miles north of Dayton (where I was born 49 years ago). We had a friend, Matt Weir, who was participating.

This was Matt's 9th day in a row for working on his large scale stone sculpture. He was holding up well - in fact, he was almost finished! The front side of his piece had a pixelated brain, which made a statement about crossroads and evolution.

He showed us the design for the back of the sculpture, which was a theater stage - as a metaphor for Life.

Moving 'stage right' (or upwind - however you want to look at it) was John Leon of Cincinnati, Ohio. John has an impressive list of accomplishments over his 30 year career. He is giving a video interview as part of the documentation process. The people who set up this symposium did a fantastic job - everything was 1st class!

I particularly enjoyed meeting Todd Frahm of Solsberry, Indiana. He is currently teaching stone sculpture at Indiana University in Bloomington.

He is carving a tree frog on a light bulb. I'm sure that we'll be seeing great things from Todd in the future.

This is Lasha Khidasheli who currently lives and works in Charlotte, N.C. He is originally from Georgia - not our Georgia, but the 'Old World' Georgia.

His sculpture, entitled "Sunset", uses negative space to let light through. I liked this photo because it included the sweeping architecture of the Recreational Center, in the background.

This is Patrick Sullivan of Squamish, B.C. Canada.

The staff of the symposium had provided smaller blocks of stone for kids to carve. There were hundreds of school children who had the opportunity of seeing the symposium first hand, and had a chance to see the process and talk to the sculptors. I hope that it 'lights a fire' in some of them, and produces a new generation of stone sculptors.

The Don and Tom Show - it was a 5 hour drive, each way, so we split it up with an overnight visit with my old college roommate (and fellow artist), Tom Mitts. (all photos Meg White).

successful 2010 sculpture show @ yew dell

The opening for the 3rd annual Yew Dell Outdoor Sculpture Show was this last Friday from 5-8 p.m. Meg will do a detailed posting of the pieces that have already sold in a day or 2 on her blog. I'll show 4 images from the opening, but first....

This week, with the new compressor up and running, I was able to finish "Promise".

This is an alternate view, as you move around the piece.

This is the back side. As I get better images, I'll post them on the 'Stone Sculptures For Sale' blog.

For me, the real showstopper at the Yew Dell show this year was this glass ladder by Casey Hyland.

I had a chance to congratulate Amanda Matthews, who had recently won a public art competition at Georgetown College. The other finalists in the open competition were myself, Craig Kaviar and Matt weir.

We saw so many friends and colleagues - it was a bit overwhelming. This is David Schwartz, who we've known for years and years.

Meg sold "Demeter" at the opening. More about the Yew Dell show to come in future posts.