"Mother Nature" finds a new home

I made this 8' tall stone sculpture of Mother Nature many years ago.  It was more of a personal piece; I never really tried to sell or exhibit it.  In fact, it served as a wildlife feeding platform for all the time that I had it.  A high school friend took an interest in the piece and bought it.

Mike Sondergeld was in my small circle of high school friends.  We used to party together at all our old hang-outs like "the circle", the "40-acre field" etc.  He spoke for the sculpture on a recent visit.

So, on may 30, Dereck Sheroan showed up with the 23 ton crane truck to deliver the piece.  The proper way to rig this piece would be to hang a 4-way from the hook (4 equal lengths of nylon or cable slings).  Then, basket-hitch my slings under the piece and use 4 shackles to attach to the 4-way.  We didn't have the 4-way and only 2 shackles, so we tried this set-up.  It was too dodgy for me as the pivot point was too low, being at the top of the eyes of the choker hitch.

Finally, we figured out the safer way - which was with a basket hitch to get the pivot point almost to the top of the piece.  We could have lifted the other way, but it would have needed a safety sling to prevent it from flipping.  I was much more comfortable to go this route.

The piece was too tall to haul on Dereck's crane truck, so we loaded it onto Meg's truck.

We tied her down and...

got both trucks ready for the short trip to Mike's place.

He has a little corner of Heaven on a wooded hilltop out in the Kentucky countryside- about 20 miles from my studio and home. (this photo looking back down his driveway) 

Earlier this year, he'd also bought a bench and a small sculpture from me.

Dereck moved the sculpture into its site.

That's Mike on the right - watching the lift.  I'll have to get final pictures when I go back over to sign the piece.  I'm pretty bad about not signing my work - none of my big pieces are signed... (some kind of personal hangup, I'm sure.)

...and ending this post with a photo that Meg took of a jet trail in a convergence with the boom and cable. (all photos Meg White)