What I did on my summer vacation (stone carving)
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A few weeks ago I went to a stone carving workshop in Rutland Vt. That part of Vermont is a good source for marble, so there happens to be a rare stone carving / sculpture school outside town near some local quarries.
I've been watching a lot of Egyptian archeology shows on Discovery, so I was inspired to do a winged design.
I brought up a pre-cut piece of Indiana limestone that someone on Craigslist gave me -- it was originally cut for a mantelpiece.
I sketched out the design before I went up there.
It was less than foot wide and five feet long. About 3 inches deep. It really takes two people to move around, but I can manage using leverage.
Once I got to class, I started carving the outline. I used hand tools (hammer and chisels) and the smaller pneumatic tools they had.
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
It was a beautiful place to
It was a beautiful place to carve. Having an air compressor and tools was really nice.
I got a lot done on the first day.
Second day I carved out the background to make a relief.
I was making good progress by the third day.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
The class was great -- 7
The class was great -- 7 students and one teacher. You could work with the local marble, some alabaster they had, or some marble they had.
By the fourth day I was refining the wings -- giving them a few curves -- and thinking about the center circle.
I'm thinking :flying eyeball.
I used some alabaster and some black marble to put together a prototype.
Now I've got he piece home and am refining it further. I'm planning on doing some malachite (green) inlay to give it some color.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: jazfish
Cool.
Cool.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: intentionally blank
I love these threads. Thanks
I love these threads. Thanks for sharing your work, Alan.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Mice elf
Yeah, grate stuff alan!
Yeah, grate stuff alan!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
Thank you gentlemen. It's
Thank you gentlemen. It's mainly been the mosquitoes that have hindered my work in the last few days. And the hot and humid weather doesn't really foster creativity. Apparently Maryland is the new Costa Rica. It's friggin tropical. (I bailed on Darkstar Orch at Merriweather tonight, as I'd rather watch preseason Ravens in air conditioning.)
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
Ditto what the gentlemen said
Ditto what the gentlemen said above.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Dave
Sharing the process of
Sharing the process of creating stone carving with us is much appreciated.
Thx
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: MarkD
Mike and Bss .......... and
Mike and Bss .......... and Judit stole what I was going to say.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
For fun (and practice) I
For fun (and practice) I split the corner off a very large piece of Danby marble using a time-honored technique (with the aid of a power drill). The technique involves drilling a line of holes, inserting metal wedges in those holes, and then sequentially hammering the wedges in. Surprisingly, it doesn't;t take much force to split the stone.
This method doesn't always work, but it sure saves a lot of work when it does.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: intentionally blank
What I've found is that
What I've found is that originality is often arrived at by taking diverse things from the past and combining them in unique and novel ways, and it seems you've come to a similar understanding, Alan. As you noted, the winged design has roots in ancient Egypt, and it was employed more recently by the GD in one of their posters for the 1978 Egypt run, which is a particular favorite of mine.
Combining that motif with an eyeball at the center is where this gets really interesting for me. I think around here we're all familiar with the flying eyeball designs of Stanley Mouse and Rick Griffin, and probably the hot rod art of the artist known as Von Dutch that preceded them too. But Von Dutch's design also has roots that reach back to Inuit mythology and its deity Issitoq, as I learned this morning.
In the Old Testament Book of Ecclesiastes, it notes that "there is no new thing under the sun," and while that may be true in some ways, we can still find novelty in new arrangements of old things.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ParadiseWaits
Beautiful work, Alan!
Beautiful work, Alan! I have a giant red ocean tumbled carnelian I pulled out of the water in Oregon that would fit right into the pupil there.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
Dise - I had to look it up --
Dise - I had to look it up ---- glad I did. Thanks for thr insight. Would be perfect for this piece. One friend said I should put a magnet in the circle so that I could insert various "crystals" and swap them out when desired.
Carnelian - Color, Facts, Power, Mythology, History And Myths
"Like the blazing splendour that sun exhibits at dusk, or the first flash of autumn, Carnelian is the stone that too fascinates due to its luminosity and radiance. Acknowledged as the stone of courage, motivation, leadership, and endurance, Carnelian is inspiring and protecting the mankind since times immemorial.
Carnelian is the stone of Quartz family and is the variety of an orange colored chalcedony. It has derived its name from a Latin word, which means “Flesh”. Carnelian has numerous ancient stories attached to it. In ancient times, it was strictly considered as the stone of noble or elite class. People who used to hold a social status were often buried with this stone.
In ancient Egypt, Carnelian was called as the “setting sun”. It was associated largely with female energies and the mother goddess. Carnelian Jewelry is worn to enhance the power of love, passion, and desire."
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: ParadiseWaits
That's more than I knew about
That's more than I knew about carnelians! Very cool I like the idea od being able to change out stones. Light shines through the carnelian I have, making it bright orange-red.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
Got the malachite inlay done
Got the malachite inlay done and the alabaster eyeball. Needs some cleanup and final sanding and finishing. The shadows really pop when it's standing up, (not laying flat, as pictured) and it's lit from above.
I would love to knock out the "background" entirely, in part to make it lighter (it weighs 85 lbs but a heavy 85 lbs), but that's not gonna happen until I get up to Vermont again where the necessary tools are.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
All the inlay is done -
All the inlay is done - malachite (green /blue), azurite (blue/purple), turquoise, and jasper (red/orange). I also changed the color of the "eyeball" to make it less eyebally. Those stone inlays will look good when polished.
Now I have to sand some more, clean up some rough spots, wax, build a wooden frame and maybe add some dark stain to the "background" for added contrast.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: intentionally blank
Found myself thinking about
Found myself thinking about this thread, so I bumped it. How's it going, Alan?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Alan R
Very well Mike. Thanks for
Very well Mike. Thanks for checkin in. It's too cold to carve outside, so I'm temporarily spending my time selling vintage holograms on ebay while searching for a new art workshop / gallery space. The place where I usually work has no heat or running water (or bathroom) so I'm skipping renting it this winter.
My limestone Egyptian Wings sculpture is now residing on my patio. I recently entered it into a local gallery show along with my other new piece, Thumbs Up! (alabaster) and got rejected. I'm not too bummed, as the only piece of sculpture that was accepted was an old wooden cheese box with two drumsticks duct taped to it. No shit. I'll try again someplace else and/or schlep them to a craft show.
The good news (besides being relatively healthy and seeing some good shows last month) is that I got asked if I wanted to teach two weeks at the Stone Carving and Sculpture Center of Vermont this coming summer. (The place where I carved much of the Wings piece.) As part of the high school curriculum they have Vermont "kids" 15-18 learn cool stuff their last couple weeks of school. As long as they are not delinquents, I'm going to take the gig.
Music-wise all I have coming up is Emmy Lou Harris in DC. I'm probably passing on an invite to the Gilmore Project tomorrow in Annapolis (same band as Live Dead and Brothers with Jeff Pevar instead of Kimock or Dudeck).
Hope you (and everyone else) are well. Happy Holidays.