Lemon Slice Sunrise

Early mornings are spent finishing up a large functional sculpture called "Fruition", which is in the shade outside the west wall of the studio.  In the heat of the afternoons, I work inside the studio (with a fan on me) on a sculpture called "Lemon Slice Sunrise".

 This picture was taken last fall after I cut a large piece of scrap from "Fruition" using the diamond chain saw.  In the background is the raw quarry block that later became "Resonate Journey" (makes me tired to think of all the work that I went through on that piece!)

 Meg used her crane truck to move that 1,000 lb. piece of scrap into the studio.

 I came up with this design to fit that stone.  It is a metaphor for making the best of a bad situation; when life gives you lemons, make lemonade - that kind of thing...

 I opted to go with the shapes found inside a lemon slice rather than the background sunrays in the drawing.  The sections of the lemon slice have a bush texture that contrasts with the fork chisel texture on the sunrays and the polish of the sun and rind of the lemon.

 As you walk around the piece...

 ...and the other side.  This piece measures 30"H x 37" x 15" and will sell for $2,800.00

Then, ending this post with a wildlife picture.  Some of the fawns are now coming up to the studio with their moms.  This little girl just got done checking her look in the chrome bumper of Meg's truck.  She's walking over to go nose-to-nose with a button buck (undoubtedly her first meeting with a boy) - who promptly kicked her in the head with his front hoof.

Wyandotte Cave

June 15 was my 58th birthday and Meg treated me to a tour of Wyandotte Cave which is a little west of Corydon, Indiana.

 We joined a group for the 2 hour tour.  This is the natural entrance.

This cave had been closed for a long while because of the White Nose disease that decimated the bat population.

 Even though this cave is close to where I grew up, I'd never been here before.

 This is one of the remaining barrels from a scheme by some guys to corner the onion market back in the 1800's.  The cave has a long (and colorful) history of use: first by native Americans, a group of counterfeiters, a secret society called Oddfellows (who had meetings with costumes and musical instruments) etc.

 This room had strange acoustics that made it sound as if the floor was hollow.

 I loved these dry-laid stone cairns that were at various locations throughout the cave.  Long ago, people would stay in the cave for days - exploring and making their own "monument" to show they were here.

 I liked these long Epsom salt crystals growing on the path.  Lots of geology in the cave: calcite, gypsum, dolomite, flint etc.

 There was a passage that had helictites - which are erratic growths of stalactites that seem to defy gravity.

 Meg caught this close-up shot of a twisty bunch.

You can see the seated silhouette of our guide (second generation following in his Father's footsteps).  He did a great job - let us take our time and enjoy the experience.
So… I'll have to go back another day and take the short tour of a different cave on the same property.
It was a pleasant way to spend my birthday.

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.