Monday, September 25, 2023

"Forbearance" Stone Sculpture

After winding down from the art show in Mid-June, I was able to enlist Meg's help with her crane truck to move stone from the old Ekron studio.  We moved many loads over a 2 week period resulting in about 35,000 pounds of carving stone added to the stone yard.
The first piece that I carved from this batch was this 800 lb corner from some project over 20 years ago.

The piece had this big notch from a "quarry dog hole".

I came up with a design that used the entire block, but swept past the defect.

more progress...

...and more progress...

...and (you guessed it) more progress.

This piece was somewhat reminiscent of the floral seat that is right next to my outdoor work area (under Catrina)..

after finishing the top piece, I began the base for the piece from this section of a limestone column that was salvaged from in front of the Louisville main library (mid-90's).

I formed in the main shapes after making the top and bottom flat.

I tried a chisel texture with a central vein.  This was a lot of work, but I just didn't like it.

So, I ground off all that work before carving in the bottom shapes with an air hammer.

Here is the finished piece.  The overall measurements are 56"H x 24" x 24" and approx. 800 lbs. total weight.

Here's the back view.

...and coming on around... 
The sculpture is about maintaining self control in the face of adversity. 
 It is better to bend than break....

 

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