bowling

This week I began the 'Wave Vessel' commission for Chuck and Sarah O'Koon.


I needed a piece of stone 3' x 3' x 1'-6" and my only option was to cut into this block that is 3' x 3' x 5'-6". I needed to slice this piece lengthwise anyway, to get the block for my upcoming project "Nexus".

So, I got out my 'secret weapon', the hydraulic power unit and the diamond chain saw.

This is a closer look at the diamond chain saw.

I was able to make cuts on both ends and across the top 18" deep, but that left a section in the middle that the saw couldn't reach. I placed metal wedges in the saw cut and gently beat on them with the hammer. By bringing the tension up slowly on all 6 wedges at the same time, it set a crack across the remaining stone.

I used a pry bar and larger wedges to push the two sections apart and lay over the half that I need for the wave vessel.

I used the calipers to score the circular lines that will be the vessel edges. I used the other straight edge to lay out the cut to remove the excess stone (which will become another sculpture one day).

Using the hydraulic chain saw, I cut off the extra piece and then cut off the corners.

At this point, I have a rough formed block that weighs approximately one ton.

I placed the block on a table in the shade of the north side of the studio.

I'm removing stone from the inside of the vessel by making parallel slices with the diamond blade and breaking them out with the hammer and masonry chisel.

I've removed waste stone across the entire top and to a depth of 3 inches.

I removed stone around the outside of the circular edge and some of the larger corners. I wanted to flip the piece and get the bottom finished before I got too far ahead with the inside.

This will be a hemisphere 3 feet in diameter and 1-1/2 feet high.

This is the progress by the end of the week.

Meg snapped this shot of our neighborhood as we took a bike ride Wednesday evening. You can see the Ohio River between the soy bean field and the trees over on the Indiana side.

Summer Time (and the living's easy)

It's turned into the humid, hot weather (over 90 degrees) that's typical for Kentucky in July.

This week, the work focused on the stone base for the newly finished Washington sculpture. I used the crane truck to get an 8 inch slab from the stone yard. A hammer drill (shown) put a hole through the center so that I could place a 1" stainless pin in the center. You have to start by drilling half way from the bottom, turn the piece over and meet the hole. Otherwise, it will break out a big chunk if you drill all the way through from one side. I use a square to make sure that the pin is perfectly perpendicular to the base.

Next, I used the crane truck to place the pre-drilled sculpture over the pin.

The sculpture and base preform were rolled back into the shop, so that I could work in the shade. I inscribed a line onto the top of the base using a divider, like I did with the edges. This will create a lens-shaped base that will follow the footprint of the bottom of the sculpture. I used the diamond wheel on the grinder (shown) to cut off the extra stone. The hammer was used to break off the pieces after they were cut.

After cutting off the main portions of waste stone with the large grinder, I carefully went back around the entire circumference with a smaller grinder and used the small level (resting on the timber) to make sure that the edges of the base were flat and vertically plumb. In this picture, the left side has been finished, while the right side remains to be worked.

This is the base after it was completely ground into shape.

This is the finished and polished collar base for the sculpture. Using the sander (in the picture), I went thru a schedule of coarse 36 grit, then progressively finer 80, 220 and 400 grits to get the final smoothness that I wanted.

Sunday afternoon, I had a choice: either do some housework, or go for a bike ride and maybe a little exploring.

I notice that my floor needs sweeping, still my bike gently creaks.

Our first side trip found these remains of an old bridge; built who-knows-when, across a creek with no name, going from nowhere to nowhere in particular. I'm sure it was important at the time.

Meg discovered that the huge culverts down by the slough (pronounced 'slew') were high and dry.

Go toward the light, Don, toward the light!

Race ya home!

Ups and Downs

Life has its ups and downs, not to mention a few curves and side trips.


Everything was a major "Up" on the business side when I finished the stone portion of the commission for Oak Harbor, Washington on Friday. This is the front view.

This is a back corner view.

This is the opposite corner view. The next step will be crating and freighting the piece from Kentucky to Washington, after approval from the art committee. I will then fly out and oversee the construction of the berm and the installation of the sculpture.

Meg and I took a splashy stroll down Flint Run in the Yellowbank Wildlife Area this evening while we were waiting for better light conditions to photograph the finished sculpture.

On a personal note, the week started with a big "Down" because of the death and funeral of my great uncle Elroy Cart. He lived on 300 acres that has been in our family since the original land grant of 1792. He made his own wine, which may account for his healthy longevity of almost 91 years.

The personal "Up" came on the weekend with the great wedding of my cousin Tara. It was one of the best weddings that I've ever been to - and it's been a season for weddings (3 in 3 weeks!).

Back to Normal (?)

Compared to the previous week, this one was almost normal (whatever that is).


The first half of the week involved final shaping and sanding of the leaves. This is the progress on the front side.

This is the progress on the back side. The tool in the foreground is a die-grinder. It spins small diamond burrs for removal of stone in hard to reach places. I was using it to shape the backs of the leaves.

The next step involved making the edges of the seed shell and then undercutting the edge to create the sense of the interior space in the shell. I use a metal divider to score a line so that the thickness is the same everywhere.

This is the front view to show the undercutting and defining of the shell edges.

This is the other side, showing the edges being defined. The only remaining work for next week is clean-up of the intertwining forms and making a base. The clean-up phase is tedious and fussy, but a necessary part of the craftsmanship. Next week, I should be able to post pictures of the finished stone portion of this sculpture project.

Saturday, Meg and I attended our neighbor's housewarming party. Steve McMillen and Alice Kimble own the 100 acres across the road and they had just built a nice home on a bluff that overlooks the Ohio River. At dark, someone brought out a bunch of glowsticks and the kids covered themselves with them.

Everyone drove down to Chenault Bottoms to watch a huge fireworks show that was sponsored by Derby, Indiana.

Sunday, we went to Otter Creek Park to see the antique tractor show, as I'm a fan of Heavy Metal.

We hiked to the ruins of Overton Mill which operated on Otter Creek between 1808 and 1884.

Our main objective was to get out of the house and have a little fun.

Two Weddings and an Installation

It feels like I tried to get two weeks worth of living out of this last week. Monday started early with Meg preparing for and giving a talk to two separate groups of middle school children about Greek art and its influence on her sculpture. The day went very late with my preparations for the delivery of my stone sculpture "Currents" to Green Bay, Wisconsin.



On Tuesday, I drove 600 miles from Stephensport, KY to Green Bay, WI in this flat-bed truck that I rented from Penske. I drilled the concrete pad and made it ready for the installation before I quit for the day.

Early on Wednesday morning, the installation began when Molly Tomasallo, senior landscape planner for the City of Green Bay showed up with Keith Wilhelm, Parks Superintendant and his two helpers. Smet Construction Company was very generous when they donated the services of the white Lull all-terrain forklift and operator. Tom Van Gemert of Van Gemert Memorials (up on the truck) lent his experienced assistance. The Parks Department provided plywood strips so that the forklift would not leave tracks or ruts in the lawn. Molly Tomasallo took all of the photos of the installation.

Tom Van Gemert and myself (the men-in-black) steadied the sculpture as it was lifted off the truck by the forklift. The operator was extremely precise and smooth with his handling throughout the entire process.

Tom's idea was to spin the sculpture around so that it was oriented to the direction that it would be set.

Next, the forklift was oriented in the same direction and the sculpture was rigged back onto the forks.

The people from the Parks Department had their work cut out for them as they constantly transferred the back plywood strips to the front. The forklift slowly made its way across the lawn on this 'plank road'.

I mixed the two-part monument-grade epoxy that would permanently attach the sculpture with its pin to the concrete footer. Tom Van Gemert prepared the monument putty by rolling it out into coils and laying them on a clean piece of plywood.

The sculpture was laid partially into position, but with thin wood strips between it and the concrete, so that we could re-position the rigging for the final lift and setting.

Before the final lift and setting, Tom and I applied the coils of monument putty just inside the edge of the sculpture base. This makes a tight seal to keep out moisture that could become a problem with freezing and thawing.

Tom trimmed the excess putty that had squished out when we made the final lift and setting. I've begun the process of 'picking up my toys'. That's just about enough fun for one day.

In the background, you can see the repeat of the process of putting one board in front of the other to get the forklift back across the lawn.

This is the finished sculpture as it takes its place in the public art collection of the City of Green Bay. All that remained for me to do that day was drive 600 miles back to Kentucky. I got home about 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning. Needless to say, I didn't do much on Thursday except sit quietly and stare out the window, like a neutered cat or something.
Friday, Meg and I left early for Bloomington, Indiana where I attended the rock and mineral show at the Bloomington Fairgrounds.
After dropping me off at the show, Meg went to Reed stone quarry to get pictures for her up-coming children's book on stone sculpture.
Meg looks for geodes at a rock cut after spending all day in a stone quarry and a rock and mineral show (you gotta love it).

Saturday was the wedding of my Neighbor's daughter, Jessica in Tell City, Indiana. It was a big, beautiful wedding with incredible amounts of food and drink.
Sunday was the wedding of a son of a former girlfriend who got married at the Watertower Art Center in Louisville, Kentucky and it was also very well done (with incredible food and drink, too!).