Purdue University to acquire Hand sculpture

It's official - the art selection committee at Purdue University have decided to add my hand sculpture to their permanent collection. What a fantastic start for 2011!

I made this clay model, among others, during the freezing days of this winter. This sculpture, entitled "Testing the Water", is the first to be carved this season from a life-size block of Indiana Limestone.

There were 2 days near the end of January when the temperatures rose above the freezing mark. I started the project then, by splitting off extra length that I didn't need.
Meg has already claimed the top piece to create something for the Yew Dell outdoor sculpture show.

We had great weather last week. I took the model outside and began to block in the piece.

The sculpture is laying on its back, right now. I've roughed in where the front foot will emerge.

I removed extra stone along her left side first.

Then, I removed extra stone from her right side. I now have all the outside points for the form.

Meg snapped this shot of ice falls in the Wildlife Area. I hope this is the last of ice and snow for a while.

Neighbors and Dragons

It remained below the freezing point for most of the week. So, I stayed in the clay studio. I did a life-size clay head study of our neighbor, Alice Kimble. I had this picture of Alice to go by, but it's always better to work from life, if you get the chance.

The profile view shows that there is room for improvements. Using photoshop to compare, like this, is a great tool. you can click 'view' and check 'grid' - the grids will tell you exactly where you are off.

The rest of the week was spent on this clay model of a dragon.

There is a stone that measures 44" high by 24" x 16", into which I could carve this design. It's a real departure from my regular work, so I'm not sure if I'll actually make this piece. I had fun making the clay model, anyway.

A couple of important events this week: Sharon Receveur's book on Bernheim Arboretum is out in bookstores. It features 2 pictures of Meg's stone sculpture "Emerging". She'll post images and more on her blog (link in top right corner). Also, there are great pictures of Paul Fields working on his large "snail" that is at Bernheim. The other important event this week is that it looks like I've sold my Monk sculpture. It will find a new home near Cincinnati. I'll post more, as this progresses.

Monday, the guys from Jbb, inc. returned to "stub in" the plumbing of the new addition. Mike Mitcham showed me this Bible that he carved to commemorate the life of his recently deceased brother. It is made from a piece of Kentucky limestone that he found, and the cross is made from a piece of Alabama marble that I gave him. This is Mike's second stone project - I hope that we'll be seeing more pieces from him soon.

It's been snowing all day! Meg snapped this shot of a snow flake caught on a spider's web.