Friday, March 22, 2024

4 small Marble sculptures

January and February of 2024 were mild and I was able to get some work done in the studio.  I began to make small marble pieces that could be used to embelish memorials.  All 4 pieces are made from Georgia White Marble.
The first piece that I made was this Tree of Life.  It measures 13"H x 8" x 8" and weighs approx. 40 lbs.

This is "Sacred Flight" and it measures 22"H x 8" x 6" and weighs approx. 60 lbs.



This is "Victory Rose".  It measures 12"H x 10" x 6" and weighs approx. 44 lbs.




This is "Mourning Dove".  It measures 10"H x 16" x8" and weighs approx. 44 lbs.



 

"Metamorph" stone sculpture

The last quarter of 2023 was spent on creating a large garden sculpture. (There was lots of other "stuff" happening, but nothing that I want to share on this blog...)
This piece is called "Metamorph" and it is about Transformation.

as you walk around the piece...


It is carved from Indiana Limestone and measures 40" high x 48" wide by 18" deep and weighs around 1,000 lbs.


Here' a detail photo that shows different textures.

This photo shows some of the detail on the back...

...and a detail of one of the spiral forms on the front.

My cat posed with the piece to help visualize the scale.

 

Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Two Sculptures leased to Frankfort, KY

Josephine Sculpture Park of Frankfort, KY put out a Call to Artists for sculptures to be chosen for a 2 year lease.  I had 2 pieces chosen for this opportunity.
On Monday, Nov. 27, Dereck Sheroan of JBB, inc from Hardinsburg brought out their 23 ton crane truck for the delivery / installations.

We loaded up both pieces and made our way to Frankfort.

The first piece, "Determination" was to be sited at the corner of Wapping st. and Catfish Alley.  Mollie Rabiner (orange hat) was my contact person for the installations.  I also met Mel VanHouten who is the owner of Josephine Sculpture Park.

More hands make light work.  Always happy to have the extra help.

Then, we made our way to the 2nd site which is in front of the Frankfort / Franklin County Tourist Commission and visitor center at 300 St. Clair street.  We took up the entire brick road (and then some...)

We set the base first...

...rigged up the top piece...

...and set it onto 2 stainless steel pins.  Both pieces look good at their new sites.  I hope they find a permanent home in Frankfort.  Time will tell...

 

Monday, October 16, 2023

"Brevity" Functional Sculpture

My morning routine, I go out into the stoneyard for "Cat and Coffee" time.  I stare at stones, trying to envision new sculpture projects, while the cat jumps from one to the other.
I'll usually do sketches and then a small clay model from what I saw in my head.

I now have an extra 35,000 lbs. of carving stones that we hauled from my old studio this summer.  

I came up with an idea for this 1,200 lb. block.

You can see the preliminary forms emerging...

Here's the other side.

Meg flipped it upright with her crane truck after I'd finished the bottom.

Here are 4 views of the finished piece.

It is Indiana Limestone and measures 43"W x 24"H x 19"D and weighs approx. 800 lbs.



...and ending this post on a totally different note, Meg cooked an apple pie from the first harvest off my trees.

 

Madison Chatauqua 2023

The Madison Indiana Chautauqua Art Fair was sept. 30 - Oct 1.  The weather was perfect and the crowds were good....
All of these pictures were taken by Meg White.  I especially liked this one.


The art fair is held down by the Ohio River and is a very beautiful setting.

There were some awesome art pieces to be seen.

These flowers are made out of some type of clay.

I want to give honorable mention to these handmade guitars by a local luthier named Nathan Murphy.  They play and sound as good as any Taylor or Martin that I've ever picked up.

You can see the yellow and red ribbon on my bench.  I won 2nd place for the Fine Arts division.  I'll be back next year and I'm hoping to talk Meg into setting up next to me.

 

Monday, September 25, 2023

"Forbearance" Stone Sculpture

After winding down from the art show in Mid-June, I was able to enlist Meg's help with her crane truck to move stone from the old Ekron studio.  We moved many loads over a 2 week period resulting in about 35,000 pounds of carving stone added to the stone yard.
The first piece that I carved from this batch was this 800 lb corner from some project over 20 years ago.

The piece had this big notch from a "quarry dog hole".

I came up with a design that used the entire block, but swept past the defect.

more progress...

...and more progress...

...and (you guessed it) more progress.

This piece was somewhat reminiscent of the floral seat that is right next to my outdoor work area (under Catrina)..

after finishing the top piece, I began the base for the piece from this section of a limestone column that was salvaged from in front of the Louisville main library (mid-90's).

I formed in the main shapes after making the top and bottom flat.

I tried a chisel texture with a central vein.  This was a lot of work, but I just didn't like it.

So, I ground off all that work before carving in the bottom shapes with an air hammer.

Here is the finished piece.  The overall measurements are 56"H x 24" x 24" and approx. 800 lbs. total weight.

Here's the back view.

...and coming on around... 
The sculpture is about maintaining self control in the face of adversity. 
 It is better to bend than break....