Trappist Monk Stone Sculpture

As a result of my recent visit to Gethsemane, I was inspired to make a stone monk. I was impressed when Brother Quenon pointed out that the Trappist had maintained their Order and way of life for almost 1,000 years. In fact, the title of this new sculpture is "1,000 years".

I had made a small clay study to fit into a 4,000 lb. 7' x 3' x 2' piece of rustic Indiana Limestone (the piece with the saw on it).

I had carved off about 500 lbs. of stone from the block while it was still out in the stone yard. Then, I moved it to the shade of the new stone studio.

After cutting the bottom flat, I stood the block upright.

I wanted the piece to have more 'life' than the crude original model. So, I made another model to capitalize on the full potential of the rough block.

I decided to make a face on the sculpture, rather than the hollow hoods of the first 2 models. I made a small clay head study, to help me see the basic shapes that I wanted.

I used carbide-tipped chisels to rough in the basic planes of the face, and I roughed in the beard with a forked chisel.

This is the current progress on the sculpture.

Last Sunday (10-10-10), there was a small gathering at the Meadeville Cemetery. In the 1800's, Meadville was a major stop on the stagecoach route between Louisville and Owensboro. There's not a trace of the old town left, now (except the cemetery).

Several people, including myself, were asked to describe to the group our experience in restoring the old cemetery. Bud Roberts had enlisted my help in the mid 90's to help with the initial clearing of trees and brush. When I first got involved, all the stones were laid flat, and many were broken . With the help of my retired chemist friend, Dave Shimp, we epoxied and stood up a lot of the stones. Other people got involved in the project after us, maintaining the old cemetery and making further improvements.

My neighbor, Jr. Horsley, invited me up to his secret 'arrowhead patch' last Thursday. I hadn't been hunting in years, and it was a blast.

It's located on a remote and scenic hilltop. It's certainly not someplace where you would expect to find an indian site.

I didn't find anything. But, Jr. found a snapped base with nice oblique flaking (either a Kirk or an Elk River) and the archaic side notch (Big Sandy).

Promise

Besides making the trip to Roanoke, I've been working on a new functional (seating) sculpture called "Promise.

I designed this sculpture to fit into the half-circle shaped scrap that was cut from the Roanoke bench "Caring". (see posting below).

I removed large amounts of material with a 10" diamond blade. Then, I roughed in the shapes with a 4" diamond blade. First one side, then the other.

This was the progress on side A, before my trip to Virginia.

This was the progress on the other side at the end of last week.

This is how that side looks at the end of this week.

...and the other side...

Up at the studio, the locusts are blossoming, and everything is greening up.

Meg moves snakes out of the road, so that they won't get run over. But, this Racer had a serious attitude problem.

No good deed goes unpunished.

I had success making homemade Sassafras soda. I bought powdered sassafras root bark, sugar and live yeast from the local Mennonite store (Kountry Korner 270-547-2021). I brought the sassafras powder and sugar up to a boil, and then let it cool to room temperature. 1 tablespoon of sassafras and 1 cup sugar per 2 liter bottle. I added 1/8 teaspoon live yeast per 2 liter bottle, started in warm water (baby bottle temperature) for 5 minutes. I bottled it into 2 liter bottles for 7 days at room temperature (no direct sunlight) and 1 day in the frigerator. The yeast creates natural carbonation (Don't serve over ice). IT'S GREAT!!!

more rocks, yes please!

On December 17th, Jerome Morgan of Vessels Trucking brought me about 44,000 lbs. of Indiana Limestone that I'd bought from Victor Oolitic Limestone Company of Bloomington, Indiana.

Introducing 'Rock One'...

...and 'Rock Two'.

Several dustings of snow, freezing temperatures and Christmas 'stuff' kept me from getting the stones unloaded. But, I finally got around to drilling them into 5 separate pieces of about 8,000 lbs. apiece.

To split a large stone block into smaller pieces, you drill a series of holes about 8 inches apart. Then you put in these metal 'feathers and wedges'.

Then, you hammer the wedges to increase the pressure on the feathers. These stones were about 3 feet thick. Nothing was happening, so Meg goaded me by saying that I hammered like a little girl. "I am NOT a little girl!"

CRAAA...

...RAAACK!

Derrick of J.B.B. inc. of Hardinsburg, Kentucky showed up this morning to unload the stones. It was below freezing, with a brisk wind, but a great way to end the year, with all the potential that these blocks hold for the next year.

So many rocks, so little time.

A Race to the Finish

I've been working full speed to finish the benches for Roanoke, Virginia.

This is the progress on side A.

This is the view from the other side. The top square shape has been formed and polished. Most of the sculpture is looking as it should. I will use the remaining time to thin and refine both benches.

These are the 2 completed stone bases with their stainless steel pins.

Going up! Meg zoomed in on this guy hanging steel about 100 feet up in the air. He's working on the new arena in downtown Louisville, and he'd just walked out on the beam that he's sitting on, to unhook it from the crane.

Meanwhile...back at the farm. "If you'll be my dixie chicken, I'll be your Tennessee lamb..."

rocks: carved, carried & collected

Most of the week was spent refining the functional sculpture for Highland Park in Roanoke, Virginia.

This is the progress of side A, at the end of the week.

This is the progress on side B, at the end of the week.

We finally had a few days without rain, so I thought Friday the 13th was our lucky day to move Meg's Grizzly Bear mom and cub. From time to time, we use Breck County Ready Mix's monorail truck to move large stones. There's a strong possibility that Meg will be commissioned to install the finished sculpture in a children's hospital (pending approval of the model).

This preform for the sculpture weighs between 8,000 to 10,000 lbs.

In perfect Friday the 13th style, the easy part was hard, and the hard part easy.

Saturday, we went to the Kyana Geological Society's rock & mineral show in the Resurrection Lutheran Gym. The centerpiece was a Dracorex Hogwartsia on loan from the Indianapolis Children's Museum.

This is a close-up of one of the specimens that I bought: sprays of tabular Hemimorphite crystals with green Conichalcite from Durango, Mexico. (Like, I don't have enough rocks).

"Miles to go, before I sleep..."

This week was just a little bit too busy for my taste. But, it took a great turn when Meg received news that she had won the $42,000.00 commission for the Hux Cancer Center in Terre Haute, Indiana!

Monday, I was involved with a little bit of 'community service' at the St. Theresa Cemetary. (...and it was volunteer, not ordered by a judge).

On the way home, Meg moved this Rat snake out of the road, so that it wouldn't get run over.

Tuesday, we rented an Isuzu box truck with a lift gate from Ryder, to deliver our sculptures for the Holidaze exhibition in the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art. Meg snapped this shot of me mirroring the pose of her bronze baby elephant, as I slid it into the truck.

First, we installed my stone 'Riverfont' outside, in front of the Museum.

Then, we installed Meg's bronze "Ely" in a central location on the lower floor.

Wednesday, we rented a Dodge Sprinter van from Thrifty Truck Rental, where I spent the next 4 days, driving to Colorado and back, transporting Meg's Home of the Innocents bronzes. I fully recommend the diesel-powered Sprinter, if you need to rent a van. They come with cruise control, a captain's chair (engage!), and a sound system that's better than the one in our house.

From the signs, I got the impression that Kansas produced more than it's fair share of astronauts. (I guess there's something about the place that inspires people to achieve escape velocity?).

Seriously, Kansas has a rugged beauty, as this picture from the Flint Hills shows. I would love to find the time to explore the post rock region. There's a wealth of history to discover, such as multitudes of old buildings made from the native limestone.

This is the 'Front Range', as seen from Loveland, Colorado, which is the location of Art Castings bronze foundry.

Saturday evening, the sculptures arrived safely at our studio. Our neighbor, Steve McMillen, helped us unload the 2 sculptures.

The task for this coming week involves pinning these bronzes to their granite plinths, and installing the finished monuments in Cave Hill Cemetary of Louisville, Kentucky.