Old Stone Fort in Tennessee

As I returned home from installing my marble sculpture in Dalton, Georgia, I decided to take a break from the bumpy ride in the large rental truck and investigate the Old Stone Fort Archaeological Park near Manchester, Tennessee.  I'm happy that I did - it's a very special place.  

 This is an aerial photograph that is on display in the museum; it really helps to get a sense of the site.  It is approximately 50 acres that is almost completely surrounded by 2 forks of the Duck River.

 On the upriver end of the peninsula, the rivers almost meet.  This creates a narrow entryway onto the site.  These are 2 small earthen mounds that flank either side of the entrance.

 This is the ground view of the open field that is surrounded by the low earthen remains of walls that encircle this huge site.

 A 1-1/4 mile path follows the walls around the field.  It's a very pleasant walk through the woods, looking over the cliffs to the rivers and listening to the roar of water as it goes over cascades and numerous waterfalls.

 This is a sign that is at the head of the trail.  It claims that the earthen cap has spilled over 2 internal stone cores in the last 1,500 years that it "has been out of use" and that this site was created by Woodland Indians over the course of 400 years.  ...that's the "official" theory...

 The trail crossed over the walls at this point, and they built a wooden stair to reduce wear on the wall remains. This is what most of the walls look like today.  More extensive research indicates that the walls were made of an inside and outside layer of dry laid stone with earth fill.  To my knowledge, this type of construction was not employed by American Indians...but it was used extensively in the "Old World"; particularly in Wales and Ireland. The walls may have been quite high and thick at one time.  The stone was taken away in the late 1800's to make roads and the earth filling was left behind. The lower stones (inside the dirt pile) were left because it wasn't worth digging them out as the upper stones (holding the dirt fill) were removed.  So...let's take a closer look at the 2 mounds at the entrance...would excavation or ground-imaging radar reveal the foundations of guard towers; are the mounds the earth fill left after stealing the stone casing?

 This sign, near the end of the trail close to the museum, explains how the area was used heavily for industry in the 1800's. 

 This is a close-up of the photo of one of the mills that used the waterfalls for power.

100 years later, this is all that's left of that complex of buildings in the photograph.  You can see the problem that faces archaeology - without the photo could you ever imagine what that mill looked like by examining this tiny section of stone wall?  So, what did the Old Stone Fort look like originally - and who actually built it?  My guess is that the true story of this place is much more extensive and stranger than the accepted academic theory.

I'll end this post with a picture of the last waterfall on the trail ...well, actually a dam built in 1963, two years before it was turned into a state park.  The Old Stone Fort is a magical and mysterious place.  I highly recommend a stop, if you are traveling on I-24 through Tennessee.  I plan to return when I get another chance.



"Seedling" installed in Robert T. Webb Sculpture Garden

We woke early on Monday, June 10 and made the trip to Louisville to get a 24' flat bed truck from Thrifty Truck Rental.

 Dereck Sheroan met us at the studio around noon with the 23 ton crane from JBB Inc. out of Hardinsburg.  We loaded the pink marble sculpture up for the 325 mile journey to Dalton, Georgia. (photo Meg White)

 Early the next morning, I arrived at the Creative Arts Guild that is the site of the Robert T. Webb Sculpture Garden. (photo Don Lawler)

 This is Leanne Lawson, Facilities and Events Director for the Creative Arts Guild, and one of my contact persons for this project.  She's standing behind a cast iron dog that we moved for them - as way of warming up for the featured event. ( The remaining photos were taken by Jim Sneary, who volunteered to help with this installation).

 We transferred the sculpture from the rental truck to the back of the crane.  In the background, is Terry Tomasello, Executive Director of the Creative Arts Guild, and my other contact person.

 We strapped down the sculpture to move it to the pedestal.

 I drilled the concrete pedestal and epoxied the stainless steel pin into place.

 Dalton City Police helped to block a lane of traffic while Jeff from Dalton Crane Service backed into position.  There were a lot of people involved in making this installation successful - and I really appreciate their help.

My camera decided to quit working at this point.  My pink marble sculpture is sitting on this concrete pedestal - you'll just have to take my word for it, until I get images from the Creative Arts Guild.  (How about that architecture?  Pretty creative!)

"Seedling" moved from Sculpture Garden



On Thursday, May 30, Meg and I shared a 23 ton crane from JBB, Inc. from Hardinsburg.  We moved some of her large stones for her Orlando commission in the morning.  I'm sure that she'll show detailed pictures of that on her blog.  



 After lunch, it was my turn.  We went out to the sculpture garden to get my Georgia Pink Marble sculpture "Seedling" that will be going to the Robert T. Webb Sculpture Garden in Dalton, Georgia soon.

 Dereck Sheroan is our "operator-of-choice".  This was going to be a tough lift and it was good to have as much experience on hand, as possible.  The hard part was how to safely rig the rounded and polished sculpture.  It'd be easy for it to slip out of the slings.

 No problem!  It was safely lifted off its pedestal and turned onto its side.

 Then, we re-rigged it in a basket hitch to load it onto Dereck's crane to move it back to the studio.

 It is safely setting in front of the studio and ready for its trip to Georgia.

 After a long day of stressful crane work or installations, Meg and I will instinctively head for water to "decompress".  We took a splashy walk down a creek in the Yellowbank Wildlife Management Area where we found this beaver dam.  It has successfully raised the water level quite a bit.

 Sculptural potential is everywhere that you look. (are we really ever "off work"?)

Feeling lucky?
 (all photos copyright 2013 Meg White)

6th Annual Yew Dell Sculpture Show load-in

After sitting out for two years, we decided to display some of our sculptures in the Yew Dell Outdoor Sculpture Show again.

 As we loaded up last Monday, we were treated to a full double rainbow (best that I've ever seen!) - I take this as a good omen.  There were ripples of multiple rainbows inside the main arch.  The photograph didn't catch the colors well, but you can see the intensity inside the main part.  The panoramic camera feature also made the stone studio (right) look really "contemporary".

 I made a crate for Meg's "Daphne" stone sculpture.  We loaded it onto the back of her crane truck and made everything ready for the 70 mile trip.

 Tuesday Morning, a 23 ton crane from JBB, Inc. of Hardinsburg showed up at the studio.  We loaded some of our pieces onto his truck and we made our way to the gardens.

 Dereck Sheroan lifted the first piece into place, which was the base for Meg's "Lilly".

 No sooner was the sculpture in place, that a Mockingbird claimed "Lilly" as part of its territory.

 I set my "Exposure" stone sculpture under some nearby bushes.

 Next, we set a functional (bench) sculpture of mine titled "Entwined Seedlings".

 "Daphne" was placed in front of a Lilac that was in full bloom.  This is the "showstopper" - by far, the best piece in the show this year.

 We moved the crane over to an area near the back of the gardens.  After leveling the ground, we set up Meg's "Otter in Lilly Pads" inside a fountain basin.  Meg fixed up the pump, added water and an electric line - it's ready to go!

My torso sculpture "Summertime" was the last piece of ours to set up.  It was a super-long couple days getting everything ready and installed.  I'll be happy to take my time during the opening on May 17, 5-8 p.m. so that I can take a good long look at the other sculptures in the show. (all photos copyright 2013 Meg White).

Cahokia

While in St. Louis on Sunday, Meg and I went to Cahokia Mounds.

 This is Monk's Mound...and it's impossible to capture the sense of scale in a photograph.  It is 100 feet high and there are tiny figures going up the left side (if you look close).

 It is almost exactly the same size, height and shape as the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico.

 Follow the line of the stairs, across the modern road and the grass-covered "courtyard" is a truncated pyramid that is very similar to the Pyramid of the Moon at the same Aztec site as the Pyramid of the Sun.  Coincidence?

 Then, looking a little east of The Pyramid of the Moon (or whatever they call it), is the Interpretive Center.  I wish that we had more time to see it, because we got there about closing time.  It is GREAT!!!   Unlike the Ft. Ancient museum in Ohio, which didn't have hardly any Ft. Ancient culture artifacts, this center focused on the importance of the Cahokia culture and the singular nature of the site.

To the west of Monk's mound, is a reconstruction of 1 of 5 woodhenges that they unearthed.  They also found a decorative pottery beaker (lower left in the photo) near the main siting post ...which is strange...because they discovered a decorative pottery beaker near a main siting post at Stonehenge in Great Britain.  Coincidence?

 From the top of the largest pyramidal mound, also toward the west, you can see downtown St. Louis.  There is no mistaking that skyline - the Arch is like nothing else in the world.  (all photos copyright Meg White 2013).

St. Louis Installation and Laumeier Sculpture Park

On Sunday, April 28, Meg and I made the 270 mile trip to St. Louis to install my stone sculpture "Revelations".

 After riding 6 hours in Meg's "new" truck, we arrived safely with the sculpture at a private residence on the south side of the city.

 The installation went smoothly, and the piece looks natural in its new setting.

 This is a close-up of the sculpture.  The Indiana Limestone fits in nicely with the Missouri Limestone on the home and the bed of crushed Missouri Red Granite.

 Laumeier Sculpture Park was only 2 miles from the site!  It was an excellent treat to walk the grounds on a fresh spring day.  This is "Eye" by Tony Tasset.

 I've always been a fan of Mark Di Suvero.  He has an excellent sense of design and implied movement in his metal sculptures.  This one is titled "Bornibus".

 It's difficult to get a sense of scale in photographs - this sculpture, "The Way" by Alexander Liberman is HUGE!!!.  It's made from recycled oil tanks.

 One of the cool things about the park, besides scale, is the variety of colors and textures in the sculptures.  I thought this image of "Sugabus" by Robert Chambers in the distance was well complemented by "Alpha" by Beverly Pepper.

 "St. Loui Bones" by Robert Stackhouse appealed to my Viking heritage.

Laumeier has one weakness - there are very few stone sculptures.  I think that under this "Christo-like" winter wrapping is 1 of only 3 stone sculptures on the grounds.  I think that it is "Aurelia Roma" by Manuel Neri, but it's hard to be sure.  (all photos copyright Meg White 2013).

Bird Bath Installation and John Hartford Pre-Party

On Friday, April 26, Meg and I went to Yew Dell Gardens to pick up a bird bath that they had sold for me.

 I delivered and installed it into a private garden behind a home in Middletown.  The intimate space was extremely well designed with an ample use of natural stone.

 My bird bath found a good home - appearing to spring up naturally, out of the ivy.

 While in town, we went over to the Burkhart Company for the John Hartford Memorial Pre-party. There were several live bands that played in the large space of the custom cabinet business owned by Tom Burkhart:   Whiskey Bent Valley Boys, 220 Breakers, Dave McCool, Steve & the Installers and The Ebony "Cat House" Band.

 An unexpected treat was to see the set up in the basement where a friend of Tom's was making custom guitars and bass guitars from old whiskey barrels.  You can see the preforms of the guitar bodies in this picture.  I was told that the dense wood made for a deep bass sound in the finished instruments.

 Meg and I wondered into the attic, too.  This huge building is on the historic register, having been built around 1880.

It was used as a factory for making burlap sacks and bags.  This is an "artifact" from those long-ago days.

(all photos copyright Meg White 2013)