I want to give a big shout our to Karen Terhune, a fellow sculptor, who came out today to help refine some of the curves on the larger figure of my Norton Commission. The caregiver is the larger of the two central figures of "Cor Liberum". She is basically carved, but I was not happy with some of the curves. Karen did a great job working with me to smooth out a few areas. We will do some more sessions to work out a few more areas.
LVA Open Studio Weekend is this Weekend /
If you are in Louisville this weekend (November 4th and 5th), come by my studio and say hello! I am participating in the 2017 LVA Open Studio Weekend, a fundraiser for the Louisville arts community. I will have a lot of work there ant it will all be at a special studio sale price. You can also see the progress I have made on "Cor Liberum", my commission for Norton Hospital. You can stand next to the pieces and get the feel for how big this piece really is. I will have special pricing on Limestone carving blanks as well.
My studio is located at:
1807 Cargo Ct.
Louisville, KY 40299
"Peace Lilly" is Selected for Inclusion in the LVA Open Studio Weekend Juried Exhibition /
I received some good news yesterday. My sculpture "Peace Lilly" was selected for inclusion in the Louisville Visual Arts juried exhibition. "Peace Lilly" is carved from Indiana Limestone. This is the first time I have participated in the open studio weekend. I am happy that my piece will be included in the juried portion of the weekend. The Jurors were from Cincinnati, Nashville and Lexington. Now we just need to get it sold!
"Peace Lilly"
"Made You Look" The Latest Show I Am In /
I have been invited to join Karen Terhune and William Duffy in a sculpture show at Kore Gallery in Louisville, KY. This show is all abstract work in stone. This is the first time I have shown at Kore. The opening reception is next Friday, October 13, 2017 from 5pm to 8pm. If you are in Louisville, come by and see the 10 pieces I have in the show.
Progress Time Lapse of the Large Figure of "Cor Liberum" /
Here is a short time lapse to show the progress on the large Figure of "Cor Liberum". She has lost about 7000 pounds and is finally starting to take shape.
More Progress on "Cor Liberum" /
Removing this 3300 pound chunk of Indiana Limestone from the big figure of "Cor Liberum", my Norton Hospital commission, made a big difference. I ordered the stone a little larger than needed. I was moving along ok, but wanted to move a little quicker. I used a hammer drill and feathers and wedges to split out a large piece of stone. Splitting it out is one thing, removing it afterwards is another. One of my favorite tools is the pry bar I am using in the video to get room to slide my straps under the stone. Then the gantry makes small work of a big job.
My New Gantry Crane is Set Up and Ready to Go /
I have a shop made gantry crane that I have been using to move some of the smaller pieces of stone around the studio. However, I do not trust it with more than 3000 pounds. That is not going to get it with the two blocks sitting under the crane in the picture below. They both started out at 17000 pounds. They will become the central figures of my Norton commission, "Cor Liberum". Once I get more of the off fall off what is now the tops of the stone, I will need to stand them up to be sure they fit together just so. This is critical to the success of the piece. The central negative space that they create forms a heart. The only way to be sure they actually do that is by setting them up and making sure!
"Cor Liberum" - The Little Figure Goes on a Crash Diet /
I love the whole sculpture process. However, there are some moments that are just a little more fun than others. One of those is when you are splitting off a large section of stone from the main body. Last night, I was working on the smaller figure for my Norton commission. The stone came in at 8' long. The small figure is only going to be a little over 5'. So, I had a lot of stone to remove. This video shows how I used a drill and feathers and wedges to get rid of 2000 pounds of stone in about an hour.