"...bustle in your hedgerow..."

The Green Bay sculpture commission proceeds at a vigorous pace.

The second side of the sculpture was preformed by removing excess material where the intertwining forms will be carved.

The pattern was transferred onto the side using a gridded scale drawing. Carving has begun on the currents.

The sculpture was laid on its side using the in-studio gantry crane. This makes it much easier to carve the forms. By the end of the week, most of the current forms have been roughed in. There has been some work on the bottom circular form, as well.

There wasn't a lot of extra time to do anything fun this week. The crane truck was fixed and there was a lot of 'catch-up' work to do. However, it's always a good idea to 'stop and smell the roses' from time to time. There are no roses in march, but the 1st wildflowers have made their appearance. This is a small patch of bloodroot in bloom.

Cutleaf dogwort

Hepatica

A trout Lilly pushes its way up thru one of last years leaves.

Spring...almost.

There has been significant progress on the Green Bay commission during this 1st week of spring.

I have carved in the currents on one side, however, they still need finishing. I stood the piece up with the in-studio gantry crane. Then, I moved the rail cart outside in order to use the water-cooled hydraulic chainsaw to remove the small piece in the upper curve. I have ground the
upper curve into its basic form.

It looks like I've made a lot of progress...until you walk around to the other side.

Lots of rain fell this week adding to the flooding problem. When the sun made a brief appearance, Meg and I took a trip in our canoe up Yellowbank Creek. Yellowbank wraps around our property - actually it's covering it, right now. Photo by Meg White.

The high water allowed us to travel into places outside the normal channel. Photo by Meg White.

This could be 'modern art' - title it "Sycamore Bark". Photo by Meg White.

The Thaw

After nearly a foot of snow last weekend, temperatures rose to 70 by midweek. It finally feels like spring.











Meanwhile, inside the studio, progress continues on the Green Bay commission. I have begun to carve the intertwining currents along one side of the sculpture.








When a foot of snow melts it has to go somewhere. This is our lower field, flooded with backwater from the Ohio River.









I think this is what they call "too thin to plow" - unless you're sowing oysters.



This is a little cave spring that only flows when there is lots of rain. It's right next to the road and I pass it on the way to the studio.

Go with the flow

It's a "GO!" for the Life of the River sculpture commission "Currents".

The 10,000 lb. block of Limestone for the Green Bay, WI sculpture entitled " Currents " has arrived. It was moved off the monorail truck onto my rail cart, so that I could move it into the studio.

"Go with the flow" is the theme of the week. At every turn, it seems that weather or faulty equipment prevented me from doing what I needed to do. After hitting a snag, I had to bounce off and try to make the best of things.

Last weekend was the 1st bit of sunshine and warm temperatures that we'd had for a month. I tried to crate and freight "Affinity", but couldn't. So, I switched gears and ran the water-cooled hydraulic chainsaw to remove the large corners from the WI block.

********************Introducing - end 1 and end 2.

I was able to establish the ends of the circular forms on the bench.

By the end of Thursday, I had prepared the side of the sculpture for gridding out the design of the intertwining currents.

It snowed 2" Friday morning and another 10" on Saturday. So, bouncing off another obstacle, I spent the last bit of the week creating proposals indoors. This is Oberon peeking out from his snow mask. Photo by Meg White.

A bird's snow angel.

What's Happening!

This second post is to bring you up to speed for what's currently happening at our studio.

Soon, Meg will have her own blog and I will supply a link when that happens. In the meantime, I will start with her list.

1. Meg installed a Black Granite Panther at the University of Northern Iowa in November.
She has to make a trip in the spring to oversee the installation of a bronze plaque and to get good pictures without snow.

2. Meg has a bronze fountain group for Louisiana State University which is almost ready to leave the foundry. She will install the fountain this spring.

3. Meg is 1 of 4 semi-finalist for a commission in Aurora, CO. She will fly out there in late March or early April for the presentation.

4. Meg just received the contract for the two 3/4 life-size figures for a memorial to Sister Emily Cooper and the 200+ children buried in Cave Hill Cemetary, Louisville, KY.

5. Meg is also designing a bronze and granite memorial for the son of a friend.


Now...back to me.


I received a contract last week from the City of Green Bay, Wisconsin to create this functional sculpture. It is entitled "Currents" and will be carved from Indiana Limestone with a granite base. It measures approximately 8' long by 3' high by 2' deep. I will be posting the work as it progresses.





During the bad weather this winter, I did a serious re-do on a sculpture entitled Inspiration.

This work was just completed but I haven't been able to move it from the studio. It has been either raining or
snow/ice - and then the crane truck broke down.
















This sculpture was finished in late January. It is "Man and Technology", IN Limestone, 7'H x 5' x 4' and will be in an outdoor sculpture show at Yew Dell Gardens, Louisville, KY from June 6- 26. It has been photoshopped into a spring background because the studio property right now is a dreary, muddy wintery mess.

















This sculpture is to be installed in the City of Lafayette, Indiana sometime in the upcoming year. It is "Transcend", Indiana
Limestone, 78"H x 25" x 20".






















This sculpture will be delivered to Lancaster, Pennsylvania in May. It is "Time Blossom", IN Limestone, 6'H x 4' x 4'.








Ice is the 'flavor' of the season. Photo by Meg White.

INTRODUCTION

This blog will be an interactive format to post material beyond the content on our website http://www.sculptorstwo.com/. I hope that the blog will help people see what is involved in pursuing a full time sculpture career. I want to use this blog to show the process of creating monumental scale stone sculptures. I would also like to post material that will illustrate the unique qualities of the natural environment that surrounds my living and work space. I hope that you find the content interesting.


Shown at left is a recently completed sculpture that has been sold to a private collector in Jupiter, Florida. The sculpture is waiting to be crated and shipped. It is entitled "Affinity", made from Indiana Limestone and measures approximately 6'H x 3' x 3' and weighs 2,500 lbs.

Lately, production at the studio has been intermittent because of two ice storms. The picture at the left is part of the 1/2 mile drive back to the studio. There was about 2 inches of snow and about an inch of ice. I had to walk in and back out from the studio for several days. At one point, a large cedar fell across the road from the weight of the ice. A neighbor was nice enough to use his tractor to push it out of the way. It actually wasn't too bad walking back and forth thru the ice-covered trees. It was very quiet and peaceful and if the sun came out, there was a lot of prism colors refracting thru the ice. Photo by Meg White.










An ice storm is a good time to do a little exploring. We found this strange icicle that looked like an arm with a hand. Meg took this photo and did a photoshop flip to add the mirror image.