Lightning on the Line

Last week, we got a 6:05 a.m. wake-up call from a lightning bolt hitting our phone line.

Lightning entered our house through this telephone interface. It took out a telephone, answering machine, 2 wall receptacles and a computer. It's always something.

I finally finished this granite bench, entitled "Felicity". It took a LOT longer (and more diamond blades) than I originally planned. Granite is not a sculptural medium to be taken lightly - it's tough! You can see more pictures and pricing for this piece on http://stonesculpturesforsale.blogspot.com.

I just finished restoring this Daisy birdbath for Edith Bingham. She had commissioned the original piece in April, 1991.

It inspired me to make this "Wild Sunflower" birdbath.

You can see more information about this piece, including pricing, on http://stonesculpturesforsale.blogspot.com.

On Sunday, July 18, Jim and Virginia Harrington celebrated their 50th anniversary in this beautiful lodge at Camp Carlson.

Before we went home, I wanted to see if I could find this cave that I remembered from my Boy Scout days. I was about age 12 when I'd last visited this place.

Felicity

I've been working on a granite bench called "Felicity", which means 'fruitful happiness'.

The first step involved transferring the design onto the preform.

After that, I cleaned up the inside radius.

I used a carbide tipped drill to help remove stone from hard to reach areas.

Even though I was a long way from finished with the first side, I stood the piece up so that I could work on the other side.

This was the progress on the back side at the end of this week.

Carving granite is very different from carving limestone. One of the best techniques involves using this big carbide-tipped chisel to decisively drive off pieces of stone. The air hammer is almost ineffective - the chisels just bounce off. Silicon carbide sandpaper is worthless. You have to use diamond for shaping and finishing - although you can get a lot of stone moved with carbide, such as drilling or pitching off corners.

These are the diamond blades that I've already gone through on this project so far - and I'm a long way from finished!

...and speaking of 'fruitful happiness'...Happiness Is...but a morsel away. (photo Meg White)