Finalist for NY & Buckethead turns 50

I am 1 of 6 finalists for a public art commission in New York.

 If I get the commission, I will carve it from this 35,000 lb. block of Indiana Limestone.

 I'm also very happy to have finished this functional sculpture titled "Resonate Journey".

 As you move around the piece...

 This is the back view...

 This sculpture absorbed day... after day...

 … after day... after day... (I thought that I'd never get it finished!)

Monday May 13, a very good friend scored me 2 free tickets to see Buckethead at the Louisville Palace.  I'm a HUGE fan with many albums and even having paid premium for an autographed copy of one of his "Pikes".  It turns out that it was his 50th birthday!  The concert had a Halloween theme with LOTS of people in costume - I'm sure because of the mask that he wears which he saw in the Halloween movies.  Also, being held in Kentucky because he wears a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head (thus the name...).  The concert started with the Louisville Drum Corp coming in from the back.  They all wore masks and buckets on their heads, too.  They were perfect as a lead-in to the 2-1/2 hour (LOUD!!!) birthday performance. (…and people thought I was weird for going on a 4 mile cave tour for my 50th birthday...)

Resonate Journey

Happy Birthday to Meg White!!!

 Late February, I moved this 13,500 lb. quarry block of Indiana Limestone onto the rail cart.

 Here's the progress so far on a functional sculpture titled "Resonate Journey" carved from that piece of stone.

 As you move around the piece toward the right...

 ...and continuing on around...

 I've started to carve some of the details into one of the leaves.

 This is the back view.

 Still lots of work to go.

A couple days ago, I went hunting for Morels in the woods right in front of the studio.  No mushrooms, but I found this petrified Lepidodendron.

Bernheim Trolls

Monday, March 18, Meg and I decided to go check out the new art at Bernheim Arboretum.  That morning, I heard the news that Stephen Powell had died.  He was the glass artist and professor at my Alma Mater Centre College.  It was a real blow to the KY art scene to lose one of its most successful artist.

 A lot of other people had the same idea to go Troll hunting that day.  The first one was easy to find - he was right beside the road as you drive in.

 His name is Little Nis...

 … and he is the troll equivalent to Narcissus, I guess.

 His Mom, Loumari, was a little harder to find. Her hangout is over behind Paul Fields' "Snail".

 She's "expecting".

 They're so big and so much work went into them!

 It looks like the Blair Witch was her interior decorator... lot's to see.

 This brass plaque has the whole story behind the trolls.  You'll just have to go check it out for yourself....

 Loumari's daughter was the hardest to find.  Her name is Elina, and she's playing with big rocks (my kind of girl...)

 It looks like they didn't finish their final installation.  We had picked that day hoping to watch the artist, Thomas Dambo from Denmark, and his crew at work.  But, they'd already left that morning for their next gig in China.

This is Paul's "snail".  It was getting some attention, too.  I was surprised by the large crowds for a Monday.  The person at the visitor's center said that the traffic was backed all the way to the highway that weekend.  This installation of 3 trolls has gotten more public attention than any art event ever held in the State of Kentucky.  Art should bring joy to the public and motivate them to get out and experience it - that's the true spirit behind "Public Art".

Upgrades for "Enthusiasm" and "Zephyr"

As you can see in these pictures, it's still that "cold, dark and wet" style of Kentucky winter.  But, spring is less than a month off!

 Meg used her crane truck to move "Enthusiasm" and it's new base out of the studio.

 The base block has raised stars carved all over it.  This block of stone was the piece cut from "Determination" by the chainsaw as shown on the YouTube video.

 The sculpture also got some major upgrades; it has feathers carved into the front flames and other refinements.

 The final piece measures 93" high x 22" x 18" overall.

 It will sell for $4,800.00.

 "Zephyr" also had a base made for it and was moved outside on the same day as "Enthusiasm".

 The base has pillow-like bush textured clouds to complement the polished gusts of wind that propel the Magic Carpet seat.

 It measures 33" wide x 18" deep x 28" high and weighs approx. 1,200 lbs.

It will sell for $2,800.00.  I will post improved photos when everything starts to "green" up and the sun comes back out from behind rain clouds.

A Day for Moving Heavy Things - (Blog #333)

On Friday, February 22, I asked Dereck Sheroan of JBB, Inc. to bring their 23 ton crane to the studio for a morning full of lifts.  It was a typical Kentucky winter day: cold, dark and wet - like working in a refrigerator.

 First lift was moving "River Fiddle Bench" off the rail cart and out into the stone yard.

 Then, we grabbed this 13,500 lb. block...

 … and put it onto the rail cart.  It will get rolled inside so that I can get something done with all this rainy weather.

 Next, we lowered this 13,000 lb. block of Meg's down onto its side and away from the concrete pad.  It will get moved down to her studio this summer along with her 35,000 lb. block that's still up here.

 Then, we flew the preform for "Flourish" over to the pad.  This side of the studio stays in shade until 1 p.m. - I'll be wanting that shade to work in; it will turn from cold to hot soon enough.

 I wanted this "Sun Block" from under the deer's dinner table.

 We put the top back over an alternate base block.  It's an unbelievably muddy mess out by the table.

 I wanted the "Sun Block" for placing under "Circle Seed".  It looked about like what I thought it might; it's the right height and size, but it needs a top plate between the two.  I envision a ring of stars around the edge of the 8" thick plate.  It will hopefully complete the composition to give rise to the concept of the "Circle Seed" looking like a longboat afloat on a sea of stars around our sun.  The whole idea of the "Circle Seed" is to remind us of those never ending revolutions that mark the passing years.

 All of these photos were taken by Meg White.  She always has an eye for strange views such as looking through this hole in my sculpture at the crane...

… or through this hole in a different sculpture at me.

Ocean Font

This has been a mild winter, but it's been unusually wet and rainy.  So, I've spent most of my time inside the studio working on "Enthusiasm".  I will move it outside and post pictures of it later this week.

 I also found time to try some of the marble that we brought back from Sylacauga, Alabama a few years ago.  This piece is called "Ocean Font", and it is a study for a monumental spherical piece that I will do later this year in Indiana Limestone.

 … as you move around to the right...

 … and continuing around...

 It measures 15" in diameter by 8" high...

 … and weighs approx. 69 lbs.

 It will sell for $1,800.00.

 This is the top view.  It has been polished so that it's enjoyable to touch as well as look upon.

Then, ending this post with an outdoor image:  someone on Hwy 144 put fertilizer after harvesting corn to send a friendly message to passing folks.  (I think the land owner is a distant relative on my grandfather Barger's side? or his neighbor?)