Lost in the Fog

This week involved 2 big road trips.

There was an all-day fog on Monday when I went to the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art. It was also foggy on Friday's trip. (photo Meg White)

Friday, I went to Victor Oolitic Limestone Company near Bloomington, Indiana. This is how they cut quarry blocks into slabs. It's called a Belt Saw, and it moves down a geared track to get into position for a new cut.

This is a vacuum lift for moving individual slabs.

The 2 blocks on the left are for St. Theresa Cemetery, which is the main reason for the trip. I rounded out the load with the 2 eight inch slabs, that weigh about 4,000 lb. apiece. I only use my old truck (shown) for handling stuff around the studio. I rented a flat bed truck from Penske for hauling the load.

It's rained constantly for the rest of the week. Meg snapped this photo of water backing up from the flooded Ohio River, in the swamp below our house.

Meg snapped these photos during the freezing fog on Monday. ( ...send dead flowers every morning...)

(...send dead flowers by the mail...)

(....send dead flowers to my wedding...)

A New Decade

The temperature hasn't been above the freezing mark, ever since the decade began.

Thursday, we got about 2 inches of snow. (photo Meg White)

I was glad that I had indoor work to do. Meg needed an armature for her Terre Haute commission. Steve McMillen helped us out with the welding and fabrication.

We used steel pipe to make the armature, which was cut to length with a chop saw.

The armature had lots of complex angles. We constantly checked our progress against the scale clay maquette. Besides taking all the photos on this post, Meg transposed all the measurements from the scale model to the full scale armature and directed our progress. See her blog for more details.

The sculpture consists of a family group of 4 figures rendered 2/3 life-size. The first armature to be made was for the woman.

After making the armature for the man, we began to fasten everything to a steel base plate. We added metal props under the 'seats' of the Man and Woman, for strength and stability.

Once we had the armatures for the Man and Woman in proper relationship, we fabricated and added the Boy.

Then, we added the Girl.

After adjusting all 4 figures to their final position, we cut and welded braces to strengthen the assemblage. Meg will add at least 200 lbs. of clay to create the sculpture. The armature must support that and the weight of the mold.

Steve finished up the welding, and the armature is now ready for Meg to add foam.

...and now, for something completely different.... bird tracks in snow. (photo Meg White)

more rocks, yes please!

On December 17th, Jerome Morgan of Vessels Trucking brought me about 44,000 lbs. of Indiana Limestone that I'd bought from Victor Oolitic Limestone Company of Bloomington, Indiana.

Introducing 'Rock One'...

...and 'Rock Two'.

Several dustings of snow, freezing temperatures and Christmas 'stuff' kept me from getting the stones unloaded. But, I finally got around to drilling them into 5 separate pieces of about 8,000 lbs. apiece.

To split a large stone block into smaller pieces, you drill a series of holes about 8 inches apart. Then you put in these metal 'feathers and wedges'.

Then, you hammer the wedges to increase the pressure on the feathers. These stones were about 3 feet thick. Nothing was happening, so Meg goaded me by saying that I hammered like a little girl. "I am NOT a little girl!"

CRAAA...

...RAAACK!

Derrick of J.B.B. inc. of Hardinsburg, Kentucky showed up this morning to unload the stones. It was below freezing, with a brisk wind, but a great way to end the year, with all the potential that these blocks hold for the next year.

So many rocks, so little time.

A Race to the Finish

I've been working full speed to finish the benches for Roanoke, Virginia.

This is the progress on side A.

This is the view from the other side. The top square shape has been formed and polished. Most of the sculpture is looking as it should. I will use the remaining time to thin and refine both benches.

These are the 2 completed stone bases with their stainless steel pins.

Going up! Meg zoomed in on this guy hanging steel about 100 feet up in the air. He's working on the new arena in downtown Louisville, and he'd just walked out on the beam that he's sitting on, to unhook it from the crane.

Meanwhile...back at the farm. "If you'll be my dixie chicken, I'll be your Tennessee lamb..."

rocks: carved, carried & collected

Most of the week was spent refining the functional sculpture for Highland Park in Roanoke, Virginia.

This is the progress of side A, at the end of the week.

This is the progress on side B, at the end of the week.

We finally had a few days without rain, so I thought Friday the 13th was our lucky day to move Meg's Grizzly Bear mom and cub. From time to time, we use Breck County Ready Mix's monorail truck to move large stones. There's a strong possibility that Meg will be commissioned to install the finished sculpture in a children's hospital (pending approval of the model).

This preform for the sculpture weighs between 8,000 to 10,000 lbs.

In perfect Friday the 13th style, the easy part was hard, and the hard part easy.

Saturday, we went to the Kyana Geological Society's rock & mineral show in the Resurrection Lutheran Gym. The centerpiece was a Dracorex Hogwartsia on loan from the Indianapolis Children's Museum.

This is a close-up of one of the specimens that I bought: sprays of tabular Hemimorphite crystals with green Conichalcite from Durango, Mexico. (Like, I don't have enough rocks).

Roanoke Strength Bench

After completing the tasks for the final installation of Meg's Home of the Innocents bronzes, it was time to shift gears and return to the Roanoke Highland Bench project.

This is an 8,000 lb. block of Indiana Limestone, that will become the 2nd bench entitled "Strength". (that's a tape measure and the scale drawing on top of the block).

The design was tranferred onto the block, then, incised with the small diamond-bladed grinder (shown). There is extra length to this block that needs to be removed. I drilled a series of holes along the line where I want to split the stone.

Then, I placed 'feathers and wedges' into the holes.

Gently beating on the wedges puts pressure on the feathers, which causes the stone to split. (an old trick, but a good trick).

I used the diamond chainsaw to cut out a section above the seat of the bench.

The preform now weighs less than half of its original 8,000 lbs. I used the crane truck to move it into the studio.

This is the 'side A' view of the progress by the end of this week.

This is the progress on side B.

Everyday, I lay down a thick layer of stone dust, and every night the bugs make tracks all over the studio floor. Some seem to know right where they're going - others cut a few 'doughnuts' along the way.

Meg's Home of the Innocents sculpture dedication

There was a Preview Party on the day after the sculpture installation, that was shown on the last post. Sharon Receveur hosted it at her house, and that would be a blog posting unto itself (except that we came away from it without pictures to share). Great food and great company, what else can you say - except that it's something that I'll remember the rest of my life.

The unveiling and dedication of Meg's Home of the Innocents Children's Memorial markers was scheduled on Sunday, November 1 at 2 p.m. The event began with a welcome from sharon Receveur (on the left), and then remarks by Home of the Innocents CEO Gordon Brown. This photo includes Linda Speed, who was one of the main forces in the project, as well.

Ciaran Brown played Sister Emily cooper alongside 4 child actors, in a production called "Remember Me".

There was an unveiling of a historical marker at the site by Becky Riddle of the Kentucky Historical Society.

Prayers and blessings were led by Rabbi Stanley Miles of Temple Shalom and Bishop Reed (both on right of photo). There was a Choral performance by the Ballard High School Madrigal Singers. Then, Sharon presented the artist, Meg white, who spoke a few words.

The sculpture was unveiled...

...and the doves released!