disaster!

you are never prepared for failure....even though it happens routinely in the studio...

i had loaded the increasingly heavy clay on an inadequate armature....it simply was too weak to hold the weight. I arrived at the studio and found the old water god toppled like a drunken sprite.





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I had a good start on Neptune and was slapping on the clay happily.....

satisfaction!

I am happy with the result: now Big Blue stands ready for the bronze work which is planned. I will be modeling in clay, making the molds and finding a foundry. This project is definitely a Five Year Plan.

680 hours later (continued)

A combination of hand tools, diamond blades and hand polishing blocks were needed to bring out the shape and color of this dolphin.



One small chip bounced off my chisel and shattered the glass in a patio door (my wife added that to my deficit column) and the area was littered with shards, chips, and dust enough to leave me looking like a snow creature.

680 hours later

this 1 ton block of blue granite was a gift

The project has been 10 years in the making & only the stone portion of the planned piece is complete. In 1999 it sat waiting for me to finish construction projects; in 2002 it was wrestled into place for carving and received the first shaping; then I went off to China for 3 years. So it was 2007 before I picked up the tools again and started working in earnest. In 2008 it was put on hold again as another construction project hauled me to Las Vegas.

I want to show all the facets of a sculptor at work, from choosing stone to fit a design, to the final polishing and finishing needed before it is placed on a base and ready to meet the public.


In between those steps there can be heartbreak (of a stone breaking unexpectedly) or triumph, when it all goes according to plan.



This piece, Mi Amore, was carved in Pietrasanta, Italy, of Carrara white marble.