What's in a Load of Stone?

In February 2017, I made a trip to Victor Quarry (now owned by IN Limestone Co.) to buy a stone for a commission that I had for Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, KY.

 Brent Blackwell, who is in charge of block sales there, had this 32,000 lb. block scoped out for me to fit the dimensions that I'd e-mailed to him before the trip.

 That left about 10,000 lbs. to make a full load, so we found the block that is on the bottom here.  I remember that it was starting to snow about this time and the wind chill was getting close to zero, so I snapped this picture and got back into the warm truck without a whole lot of fussing about.

 There was a serious variegation on one side of the Buffalo block. Brent was nice enough to have that cut off before it left the quarry.  So, that made the original Buffalo block 22,000 lbs. when Padgett Crane unloaded it at the studio.

 That stone became this 9,000 lb. Buffalo a few months later.

 Most of the scrap was small pieces that went over a bank to make more flat land or into pot holes in my 1/2 mile driveway.  There were at least 4 large corners that are becoming a fountain series based on the 4 elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Air.  Here are 2 of them - which is what I've been working on lately.

 The 10,000 lb. piece that came off the side of the buffalo had been laid aside...

 ... but, after delivering the finished commission, I split that piece in two and made "Hope" from one of the 5,000 lb. pieces.

 The other 5,000 lb. piece got cut in two...

 ... to make "Fruition"...

 ... and "Lemon Slice Sunrise".

 Remember that extra 10,000 lb. piece that I bought to fill out the load?  It was stood up on the rail cart...

... to become "River Music Bench"...

 ... and "Enthusiasm".

 The bottom right corner of that 10,000 lb. extra stone was split off to become this small sculpture "A little bit of Soul"...

 ... and "Flutter".

The bottom left corner became "Fireball sprout".  There were, of course, other small corners and pieces of scrap in that load that either became more small sculptures or are sitting out in the weeds waiting their turn - but, that accounts for most of that load.  It's easy to see that I try to make the most of stone when I have my hard earned money invested in the stuff.

So… I'm getting ready to go get another load.  What's it going to become?  I don't even know... and that's the exciting part.

"Fruition" functional stone sculpture

I finally finished "Fruition", which has been over a year in-the-making...

 It started last summer during the "dog days" when I stayed in the A.C.-cooled clay studio to beat the heat.  I made clay scale models to fit various stones that I had - including a 5,000 lb. scrap from the Buffalo for Buffalo Trace Distillery.  The concept behind the piece is that "you reap what you sow", in other words, hard work produces its own reward.

 I took side views and added a scale grid to help transfer the design onto the stone.

 I did the same thing for the other side.

 It's hard to see... but the grid is in red china marker.  The main design is in thick black timber crayon.

 I actually started some of the carving before cutting out the main piece of scrap with the hydraulic chainsaw.

 The piece of scrap (from a piece of scrap) became Lemon Slice Sunrise as seen in the post below.

 This February when we had the crane out for various lifts, I moved the preform onto a concrete slab on the west side of the studio.

 I worked mornings on this functional sculpture for weeks.  By 1 p.m., the sun hits the piece and I would go find other work to do inside the studio (with a fan on me...)

 Here's the finished piece waiting for better photographs before I post it on my website.  It measures 50" high x 66" wide x 18" deep and weighs (I'm guessing) about 3,000 lbs.  It will sell for $8,000.00.

… and ending with the usual wildlife picture.... This 4th of July, we had a tiny visitor... This 3 or 4 day old fawn (legs still wobbly) came bleating across the lawn all upset.  Here's Meg's video of some of that:
https://youtu.be/cEBsYs9zGG4
We thought it was abandoned to be wandering around by itself bleating so loudly.  So, we tried it on warmed goat milk (a close approximation to actual deer milk, we've been told... not that I've tried either...).
It wouldn't take any, so we knew to leave it alone under the crane truck where it'd settled down.  That evening, I saw a doe leading it down the gravel road.  I'm happy that we resisted the urge to take it to the local wildlife rehabilitator.

Lemon Slice Sunrise

Early mornings are spent finishing up a large functional sculpture called "Fruition", which is in the shade outside the west wall of the studio.  In the heat of the afternoons, I work inside the studio (with a fan on me) on a sculpture called "Lemon Slice Sunrise".

 This picture was taken last fall after I cut a large piece of scrap from "Fruition" using the diamond chain saw.  In the background is the raw quarry block that later became "Resonate Journey" (makes me tired to think of all the work that I went through on that piece!)

 Meg used her crane truck to move that 1,000 lb. piece of scrap into the studio.

 I came up with this design to fit that stone.  It is a metaphor for making the best of a bad situation; when life gives you lemons, make lemonade - that kind of thing...

 I opted to go with the shapes found inside a lemon slice rather than the background sunrays in the drawing.  The sections of the lemon slice have a bush texture that contrasts with the fork chisel texture on the sunrays and the polish of the sun and rind of the lemon.

 As you walk around the piece...

 ...and the other side.  This piece measures 30"H x 37" x 15" and will sell for $2,800.00

Then, ending this post with a wildlife picture.  Some of the fawns are now coming up to the studio with their moms.  This little girl just got done checking her look in the chrome bumper of Meg's truck.  She's walking over to go nose-to-nose with a button buck (undoubtedly her first meeting with a boy) - who promptly kicked her in the head with his front hoof.

Wyandotte Cave

June 15 was my 58th birthday and Meg treated me to a tour of Wyandotte Cave which is a little west of Corydon, Indiana.

 We joined a group for the 2 hour tour.  This is the natural entrance.

This cave had been closed for a long while because of the White Nose disease that decimated the bat population.

 Even though this cave is close to where I grew up, I'd never been here before.

 This is one of the remaining barrels from a scheme by some guys to corner the onion market back in the 1800's.  The cave has a long (and colorful) history of use: first by native Americans, a group of counterfeiters, a secret society called Oddfellows (who had meetings with costumes and musical instruments) etc.

 This room had strange acoustics that made it sound as if the floor was hollow.

 I loved these dry-laid stone cairns that were at various locations throughout the cave.  Long ago, people would stay in the cave for days - exploring and making their own "monument" to show they were here.

 I liked these long Epsom salt crystals growing on the path.  Lots of geology in the cave: calcite, gypsum, dolomite, flint etc.

 There was a passage that had helictites - which are erratic growths of stalactites that seem to defy gravity.

 Meg caught this close-up shot of a twisty bunch.

You can see the seated silhouette of our guide (second generation following in his Father's footsteps).  He did a great job - let us take our time and enjoy the experience.
So… I'll have to go back another day and take the short tour of a different cave on the same property.
It was a pleasant way to spend my birthday.

Finalist for NY & Buckethead turns 50

I am 1 of 6 finalists for a public art commission in New York.

 If I get the commission, I will carve it from this 35,000 lb. block of Indiana Limestone.

 I'm also very happy to have finished this functional sculpture titled "Resonate Journey".

 As you move around the piece...

 This is the back view...

 This sculpture absorbed day... after day...

 … after day... after day... (I thought that I'd never get it finished!)

Monday May 13, a very good friend scored me 2 free tickets to see Buckethead at the Louisville Palace.  I'm a HUGE fan with many albums and even having paid premium for an autographed copy of one of his "Pikes".  It turns out that it was his 50th birthday!  The concert had a Halloween theme with LOTS of people in costume - I'm sure because of the mask that he wears which he saw in the Halloween movies.  Also, being held in Kentucky because he wears a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head (thus the name...).  The concert started with the Louisville Drum Corp coming in from the back.  They all wore masks and buckets on their heads, too.  They were perfect as a lead-in to the 2-1/2 hour (LOUD!!!) birthday performance. (…and people thought I was weird for going on a 4 mile cave tour for my 50th birthday...)