His and Hers Monoliths

Things have taken a great turn!  I'm so happy I could burst...

 Yesterday morning, a 70 ton crane showed up at the studio from Padgett Crane Co. in New Albany.

 A semi from Stone Belt Trucking showed up with a 40,000 lb. stone.

(photo Meg White )

 This is Meg's stone for her Anchorage, Alaska commission.  At 9'H x 6'W x 4'-7"D, it is huge and excudes its own field of gravity. 

 Behind it is her unfinished earthworks / stone sculpture called "Conversation".

 Also, while the crane was here, we stood up my 30,000 lb. 8'-6"H x 6'W x 3'-8"D stone. Last night, in the starlight while walking around these huge monoliths, it felt like I was in a Stanley Kubrick movie. (que theme from 2001...)

 The "3 Graces" wait in the shadows.



2 deer calmly saunter in the background while I took pictures of my rock - 1 on the left and 1 on the right.

"RESOLVE" Functional Stone Sculpture

Winter just won't let up this year...

 I layered up and went back into the stone studio anyway.

  I came up with this functional sculpture (bench / seat).  It is a single block of Indiana Limestone, measures approximately 33"W x 28"D x 18"H and weighs about 1,500 lbs.

 This is a different approach for me - I intentionally left rough stone faces and made the rest of the forms emerge from the rustic matrix.

 The 'pathways' are bush texture to be a visual and tactile complement to the polished surfaces.

The polished forms have rounded edges that give a soft, cushiony feel.

 I am excited about this new direction, because I want to try it with monumental-scale quarry blocks.  I hope to "read" the stones and find what to leave, and what to change.

 I made this base for the piece, but it killed the 'feel' of the emerging natural stone and how I wanted it to be perceived as part of the earth. 

 ( Not every move is a move forward...part of the learning curve).

....and speaking of curves...

2 jets left these spiral trails above the studio this week
(...what a ride that must have been...)

Brown County State Park

About a week ago, we got half an inch of ice over the top of the 3" of snow already on the ground (...and it's still here...).

 

Iced Trees.
This is the drive back to the studio. We got cabin fever and decided to go exploring. 

 

 We went to Brown County State Park in southern Indiana.  I'd sold stone sculptures in Nashville, Indiana (about 1 mile from this park entrance) in the late 80's.  However, I'd never noticed this covered bridge just a short distance off the main highway.  It was built in 1838 and here's a quote from Wikipedia and the history of Brown County: "The country was very wild in 1836.  Bears, Panthers and wolves were plentiful". (oh my...)

 This is the inside of the 178 year old structure that still 'bears' vehicle traffic.

 The park has lots of great views.  It's a major destination when the trees are changing colors.
 (We basically had the place to ourselves in this weather).

 The color and craftsmanship of this beautifully banded sandstone on their lookout tower really knocked me out.  I assume that this is indigenous, because I'd heard that they used to quarry sandstone in this county...long ago.

 We took 135 south home and found Story Inn - way out in the middle of nowhere, and still a going concern.  The old rusted false front is from a bygone era...and Standard Oil isn't around anymore either.

 We were treated to a strange sunset - the sun is over the horizon and has cast up this bright ray.

 I began a new project - it's another version on the Tree of Life theme.
 I started with this rough sketch.

 It was based on this old sand cast bronze that I made 10 years ago.  I never sold the piece, and it is now decoration for my wood stove.  It really radiates heat when the stove is hot - like a big sculptural heat sink.

 I have wired up an armature that measures 72"H x 48"W x 27"D.  I will begin to cover it with concrete tomorrow, after I add a few more leaves.

I made meatloaf (with onions) last night.