The Troubles with Bubbles...

...is that they're difficult to carve. 

 Here's a comparison picture from 2 weeks ago of my Bubble Bench...

and what it looks like today.

 This is the back view.

 There's a meditation technique that encourages people to pop thought bubbles as they form.  The concept behind this piece is: don't worry, pop those bubbles.

 Early on Monday the 17th, it snowed about 3 inches.

... my 'outdoor' rock collection (I think...)

Bubble Bench

It's been a while since I've posted anything on this blog.

(That usually means I'm going in several directions at once...)

 I've just about finished the Comet Bench.

 This is an alternate view.

 With Meg's help, I got the old crane truck to start and we moved in this 4,000 lb. piece of Indiana Limestone.  I know that winter will soon have me working indoors, for the most part.

 I came up with this drawing for a design called "Clearing Skies".

 The 'polar vortex' had me already working inside.  As I began to rough-in the functional sculpture, I discovered a crack along the middle top (you can see where I've removed the broken stone in the middle top of the bench back).  That crack went right into where I wanted to carve the sun.  It's just not meant to be.

 I went back to the drawing board and came up with this "Bubble Bench".

 ...and that's what I've started to make.

What's in your gravel?
In this "driveway gem" close-up photo by Meg White, there are 3 white double terminated quartz crystals on a bed of pink bladed dolomite.