2 Sculptures leased to Champaign, Illinois

Starting with old business first...

 I sold this sculpture to a private individual from Ashville, NC. last weekend.

 I also sold this stone vessel to them as well.

 At daybreak on Monday, October 22, Meg drove me to Louisville to get a rental truck from Sternberg on Crittenden Dr. Then, Dereck Sheroan from JBB Inc. of Hardinsburg, KY brought their 23 ton crane out to move some stuff for me after lunch.  First thing we did was move this 5,000 lb. block of Indiana Limestone out of the way.  (this and the next 6 photos by Meg White.)

 Then, we stood it up so that I could work on the piece.  It will become a functional sculpture titled "Fruition".

 The Public Art League of Champaign / Urbana IL accepted 2 of my stone sculptures into their lease program.  We loaded "Daydreamer Bench" onto the 24' flat bed truck that I had rented.

 Next, we went into the back part of the sculpture garden for "Stepping Out".  When we brought this sculpture out a couple years ago, we got the crane truck stuck in wet, muddy ground - nothing like that this time around.

 We set that piece on the truck and then I made the 6 hour trip to Champaign / Urbana.  Saw a shooting star on the way up - Meg said later that it was probably part of the Orionid meteor shower.   Tuesday was taken up with installing the 2 sculptures at their separate sites, picking up an old piece in Monticello and making the 6 hour drive home.

 The Public Art League had bought "A New Leaf" which had been leased for the last 2 years.  At some point, I may have to go back up and oversee the move to its new location.

 On Wednesday morning, Dereck had to come back to the studio to unload "Shooting Star Bench" before Meg and I could take the truck back.  Shooting Star had been on loan in Allerton Park near Monticello, IL for the last 2 years, but they didn't acquire it.  I had logged in 33 hours in 3 days and I'm taking it easy for the next couple days before returning to work.

 On Saturday, October 13, Meg and I went to Doe Run Inn where a chain saw carving event had been organized by our friend, Abby Peterson.  These are some of the wood sculptures that were auctioned off that day.

 Doe Run is a very pretty place - I spent a lot of time down here as a kid as well as working in the Inn when I was 16 and 17.

… and ending my post with the obligatory wildlife picture.  An employee of Broadbent Wildlife Rehabilitators was showing people a juvenile Great Horned Owl.  The chainsaw event gave a portion of their proceeds to Broadbent - definitely a worthy cause!
(and for more wildlife stuff - check out this video by Meg.  It's 1 of 2 white deer we saw the other day:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQN8q7OZh1U

"Profusion" and 3 smaller stone sculptures

It was rainy for quite a bit of September, so I made some smaller sculptures inside the studio instead of working on large pieces outdoors.

 This 58" tall piece came literally out of nowhere.  I woke up one morning and... with barefeet, bed hair and before breakfast... I put this design down on paper.  It is called "Profusion" and is a warm-up piece for the next big project called "Fruition".

 Here's the back view.  This project was...Manic.  I flew into it hard and went right through it at full speed.  (I'm paying the price for that this weekend... ).

 This is a functional sculpture titled ""Flutter".

 It is Indiana Limestone, measures 16" x 13" x 15" high and weighs 62 lbs.

 This strange piece is called "A Little Bit of Soul" and has an inlay of Alabama Marble.

 It measures 17" x 12" x 14"High and weighs 76 lbs!

 In the background, you can see "Shackleton" toddling off to bed after filling his belly on dogfood that I "spilled".

 This piece is called "Akin" and is a variation on an old piece called "Two Leaves".

 It measures 17" x 15" x 6" high and weighs 31 lbs.   !!!SOLD!!!

Is this a painting of grey-toned geometric shapes that I saw hanging in a museum of modern art? (or is it my kitchen ceiling at night?)

"Circle Seed" updates and 2 new vessels

 This is the what the large stone sculpture "Circle Seed" looked like a month ago.  On the right, you can see the chisel marks where I carved back the outer leaves to make an undulating surface.  On the left, the leaf has been polished - which was my original intent for the final surface.  I drew a division between the leaves with a timber crayon.  I didn't like it, so I tried tips of new leaves - and that's how it worked out (as you can see in the last 2 images of this series).

 The first radical change was to add bubbles to go with the circular "eddies".  The symbolism behind this piece is the cyclical nature of life.  The bubbles represent all the people we meet and the Eddies are fate lines (the movement of these individuals through Life) and how all our relationships seem to be "circles within circles".

 I didn't like the polished outer leaves, so I tried this combination of chisel marks and polished veins. (This piece has been a true evolution from beginning to end...)

 I still didn't like it, so I tried this "slotted" effect with a bush texture on the inner surfaces.  This is something completely out-of-the-blue for me... and I like it.  Behind this piece is a quarry block that needs to have the side with the drill holes cut flat, so that it can be stood up next month when the crane comes.  It's good to visually compare the current project with the sculpture in the background called "Hope".  They are somewhat similar, yet quite different.

 This is how side A looks today....

 … and this is the other side.  The carving is finished, but there is another weeks worth of work finishing everything up.  Here, you can see how I dealt with the lower front of the sculpture with a new set of leaves.  The slotted leaf effect is a marriage of organic leaf forms and machine-like protective shielding that often appears in my work.  For me, this is a balance between the complementary forces of Security and Freedom.

 It's rained quite a bit lately, so I worked indoors and made this "Eagle Vessel" in Indiana Limestone.  It is 27" x 15" x 6", 55 lbs., signed 9-6-18 and will sell for $680.00.  It has a white bush texture on the head and body; the rest has a high polish which makes the stone darker.  There's a contrast in the way that the 2 surface treatments feel, as well as how they look.

 I also made this "Fireball Sprout Vessel" in Indiana Limestone.  This is a pretty involved piece that is 60 lbs. in weight and is 30" long x 12" wide x 7" high.

 Here's a top view - it was signed 9-11-18 and will sell for $780.00.  On the next batch of rainy days, I'll switch back to some smaller vessels.

 Every once in a while, I'll get sick of working on a big project.  One day, I switched over to a piece that I started last fall called "Kissers".  I gave it a serious make-over and have given it a new name, "Wisps".

Here's the other view.  It is IN Limestone, 42"H x 12" x 12" on a base 18" x 18" x 3".  I'll take better pictures when it's finished and I put it out in the sculpture garden (without that piece of waferboard that's protecting the base).  !!!!SOLD!!!

Circle Seed progress and other updates

I'm trying to bring this blog back up to date...

 Earlier this year, I wasted a lot of time creating a proposal for a functional sculpture for an opportunity in S.W. Colorado.  I was a finalist in this nationally open call for public art - but I didn't get it. I need to keep applying to these types of opportunities on a regular basis.

I forgot to show these 3 vessel forms that I made earlier this year - here they are: I made (and sold) this vessel in IN Limestone called "Fly Forever", 20" x 16" x 4" !!!SOLD!!!

 I made (and sold) this vessel in IN Limestone called "Lobed Vessel", 17" x 9" x 7" !!!SOLD!!!

 … and I made ( and sold)  this vessel called "Whirlpool Vessel", 17" in diameter and 4" thick.

I also sold 4 other limestone vessels that I made earlier this year, but there pictures are posted in an archived post..  Additionally, I will make a future post to cover the installation of the major sculpture "Hope" which sold last month.  I also signed a contract for 2 year leases on 2 major pieces for Urbana, IL.  That pretty much covers old news.

 In the last post, I showed this 4,000 lb. block of IN Limestone and the various drawings and models for the design.

 Work began with the 10" diamond blade on the Bosch grinder.  The grinder let me down.  I've had trouble with armatures in the newer grinders - made in China, perhaps?

 This image was taken early on a foggy morning.  I switched to using an air hammer to get some of the rough removal done.  I'm looking forward to the new grinder coming in for the next project.  The air hammer is hard on the stone and me.

 Here, you can see that I've chiseled through the center.

 Then, I cleaned up the pre-form with a 4-1/2" grinder with a diamond blade.

 I switched back to the air hammer to create the detail forms.

 …. and, in this view, you can see the final shaping beginning to take place.  It's not far to the finish line.  (edit: that last sentence was a load of... malarkey.  A whole month later - still lots to do...)

 And now for the complimentary wildlife pictures: Skidoo brought her new fawn up to the studio.  This is her 3rd success - Skidoo was raised beside the studio; dropped there 5 years ago by her mother who was going blind and left her orphaned shortly after being weaned..

Another doe showed off her new twins.  This is rare as we have a lot of predation on the local herd; Coyotes, Bobcats and the like.  We've heard about local sightings of Cougar and Black Bear, too - not good news for these guys...

The Evolution of a Design

I'm trying to bring this blog closer-to-caught-up while slow-cooking a rack of ribs on this Sunday afternoon... 

 Last year, I split off a 4,000 lb. piece from the end of the Daydreamer Bench.  Here's a video that shows the block being split from the original 10,000 lb. stone:
https://youtu.be/cGkFF0DPBl8
Here's a video showing the block being stood up - after I'd cut the bottom flat:
https://youtu.be/hgEwP2kIi7Q

 The original idea was to make a companion piece to the other 4,000 lb. scrap that started out as "The Throne of Truth" - which evolved into "Determination". (See the post below this one).

 This design was to be "The Throne of Measure" - where someone could sit and decide whether their glass was...half full... or half empty...

 After changing the Throne of Truth to Determination, I tried to create designs that would be a companion piece for that new direction.

 I made a scale clay model called "Persistence".

 I felt pretty strong about the new design and drew it onto the block of stone.  I even scored lines where I would make major cuts with the hydraulic chain saw.

 I also started to make cuts to release scrap material - but, it felt wrong and I quickly stopped.  This is an example of "Cut Once, Think Twice". (hmmm...)

 I made this small sculpture, called Ring Seed, in Georgia Pink Marble last winter.  One morning, while staring at the rocks with my cup of coffee, I decided that it was a great candidate for a design in that stone,  if I flipped it to open upward.

 I made this scale clay model to work out how I wanted to proceed.  This is called "Circle Seed".  This concept is an echo of the sentiment behind Joni Mitchell's song "The Circle Game" - it's about Life.

 I decided to make a scale drawing to tighten up the details.

 After living with that last design, I wanted to see if it could be more powerful if the inside was made of spiraling glyphs.  I was worried that the other design might be.... too busy?

 The idea behind the new design was how Life is cyclical in nature.  So, I tried making rippled textures in the inner part to represent how people and events leave their marks on us.  A line from a Genesis song titled "Ripples" sticks in my mind, "Ripples never come back - Gone to the other side..."  Life is change - like ripples on a pond.  There's the beginning... and the inevitable end.

This is an example of how convoluted the path can be in the creation of a major work of Art.  Where we start is not necessarily where we end.  Sometimes, it's easy and obvious - other times, it's a hard, drawn-out labor.

Here's the scale drawing that I made with dimensions in order to lay out the basic design (without details) into the stone.  Now, I'm ready to show the dusty part of the work; more changes can happen at any point...