Arriving home from Thanksgiving, I have arranged to work two half days at stone carving. One project is a Brazilian brown soapstone that will become the lion. I took the 49 pound stone out to Sue Brozovsky's and cut the large chunks out. This stone was easy to file-compared to the Virginia soapstone, but it seemed a shame to make dust out of so much stone.

One hundred eleven hours later

So here he is -Bun Bun in his glory. I have to say this new "hobby" has been great fun for me. As I work the stone, I take time to reflect on motion, emotion, and the joy of creation. In the 111 hours that it has taken to get Bun Bun to this stage, I have had a chance to examine why I am anxious in a stadium, why I dislike large crowds, and heaven knows what else. But the fun part is there is a product at the end of the internal reflection.

Bun Bun is Virginia soap stone, he started out at 9.5 pounds and now weighs about five pounds now. I worked on him, mostly in two hour increments. You will notice he has a harness which is a natural feature of the stone. The white glint on his right ear ( your left) above is another type of stone , he has similar markings on his left hip flank. He has a natural stone saddle also, and I accented a portion of it on his back and onto his neck. He is finished with aging color, which allows the eyes to be blacker, marble polish, and wax.

Whew, I have a free form in alabaster I am working now, and I have chosen a lion http://www.archaeology.org/image.php?page=0801/trenches/jpegs/lion2.jpg to be carved in brown Brazilian soap stone for my next piece. And here is a close up of his precious face http://www.archaeology.org/image.php?page=0801/trenches/jpegs/lion3.jpg .

Stone Carving Weekend

Well, the stone carving weekend was a great success...at least for me. There were about 22 people in all who were carving. Some came just for a day or two. We started our days at 8 am and worked until 8 pm Friday, Saturday, Sunday and from 8 to 3 on Monday.

The site for the event is a Virginia Tech site where students weld, lay brick, and unusual projects of all types are completed. There must have been 4 industrial spaces, but it looks out at the Alleghany Mountains and the weather was perfect. It was possible to work outside, or inside, under a tent, or in the sun.

We were supposed to bring our own lunches, but supper was provided every evening, and with the left overs, I don't think anyone ordered lunch.

The youngest carver is a Junior in High School. The most accomplished and the instigator of this annual event is Darcy Meeker . Many of those attending had been participating in this fall stone carving event for 10 years. The group is a melding of local persons and one all the way from Tennessee, one from North Carolina, one from Lynchburg, but most of us came from Blacksburg or Giles County Virginia. Sharon Dowdy is a wood carver. She took a single stone and cut and polished her final product. It was quite amazing to be among so many accomplished carvers.

I was invited to the event by a friend, Jennifer Lovejoy who is a member of the "Backyard Carvers" in Blacksburg, VA. Darcy Meeker allows a number of artists to come to work in her back yard every Friday. Jennifer is also an architect, and she had designed and supervised completion of some affordable housing developments for me in Giles County. She is a gifted woman...and it was great fun to see her in a new light. And encouraged to attend by a friend Deb Schug, who is a graphic artist, who also attended. Her first work is a limestone goose, from High School.

The master carver, Bob Lockhart is an internationally known carver of wood and stone. He also sculpts and casts bronze works. Bob shared other artist's personal statements regarding their process. On Friday he wanders among the carvers and watches their processes. On Friday evening, just before supper he calls us all together and proposes the "problem". Using clay, build-sculpt a piece that has a rectangle, pyramid, and cylinder in it. We were allowed to slice and dice, or stretch and curve our clay pieces to meet our needs, but we had to use the whole shape, we were not allowed to discard pieces of clay. So that is the Friday evening charge.

Saturday morning we arrive and we are encouraged to use that clay model to create a stone sculpture. And Bob has selected a partner for you. Your job as a novice is to ask if your partner has considered "doing it differently", while your partner will share stone, tools, and their experience to help you pace yourself to be successful in the process. For some Bob instructs them to complete a single piece, for people with less experience it is okay to have multiple pieces...so long as you can assemble them in a finished product.

By Saturday evening one should have all their shapes defined. By Sunday assembly and polishing are underway. By Monday mid-morning there should be a "finished product" and you will share with the assembled group, how your partner came to the design that is presented. They are allowed to respond one time about their finished product. And then all can talk about what moves them and what they see in your work. This was a very enjoyable process for me. Listening to others as they interpret your effort was enlightening, sometimes about yourself, but more likely about the person speaking.

I came away with a greater knowledge of tools. And bought some too. An understanding that the Oklahoma alabaster, that I picked up, is too soft to hold an edge. (not so good for rectangles and pyramids heh?) That this group of carvers are committed to learning, sharing, and teaching.

I will probably do this again....

Oldbikerrider came and made video of the event and I hope at some time to be able to publish it .

Vintage Motorcycle Days

Old bike rider (Obr) has traveled the last 7 or 8 years to a national vintage motorcycle event located in Lexington, Ohio at the Mid-Ohio Race Way. This is a three day event and the Raceway Manager in an interview described it as a unique event. It is full of motocross, observed trials, hare races, opportunities for amatures and professionals to race on small and big cycles and sidecar rigs. In the evenings there are flat track races in Ashland, Ohio at the Ashland County Fairgrounds.
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Then there is the 30 acre flea market of motorcycles, motorcycle parts, motorcycle magazines, t-shirts, and all things motorcycled - you get the picture. Tales to be told, stories to be relived, memories to be shared and made, and fun to be had. The weather this year was cool and breezy and there was plenty of sun. Obr and I spent the first day just viewing all the sites, and we volunteered the third day to sell raffle tickets for a 1959 Triumph Bonneville, and the 50 year special edition of the 2009 Bonneville and you could pick yours up at The Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

The flat track racing was great fun , we took a front row seat and got sprinkled by the water truck as it conditioned the race track (1/2 mile dirt track) , enjoyed the little boys "hiding" behind the banners who jumped out to get a liberal shower by the water truck, and we also got anointed with dirt as the racers flew around the track. I had so much fun, I hope to return with Obr next year. Be sure to check out his site, as I am sure he also has featured Malabar Farm State Park located in Pleasant Valley, Ohio.

Sadly, we were not prepared to purchase much as we had just replaced the transmission in the pickup. But that is another story and Obr took care of it while I spent the day sleeping, hr'd s good man. And he has prepared a moment by moment reflection on his site, see the side bar, click on Oldbikerider and make a visit.

Alabaster and Bunny Memories

I traveled out to Oklahoma and Kansas to visit with family. As I was traveling through Oklahoma, my sis in Tulsa directed me to the Alabaster Caverns http://www.oklahomagolf.com/detail.asp?id=1+5U+920 in western Oklahoma, which happened to be not so out of the way on my ride west to Dodge City, KS, where my folks live. The Alabaster Caverns State Park sells alabaster from Colorado in their gift shop, and they had two pieces when I drove through, so I bought them. And as I traveled northwest to my folks, a new road bed was being opened. Along the site were white stones, that appeared to have quartz in them...but I am a true newbie at this and was unsure what they were. The pickup was empty. I loaded probably six stones weighing a total of 40 to 60 pounds. What could I loose? And they were sparkley, they could be added to the rock garden. Arriving in KS, I borrowed my brother-in-law's rasp and found the stone soft, somewhat waxy, so I took the known alabaster out of the sack in the front seat and tested it too. It also seems waxy, do I have white alabaster? I think so....

While we, Old Bike Rider joined me in western KS after a motorcylce jaunt out to Four Corners and Mesa Verde, were home we looked up a longtime e-mail acquaintance of my husband's and arranged to meet him and his wife at a great Thai Restaurant in Dodge City. The food is great, if you pass through Dodge and you like Thai be sure to stop, they are located on the west side of town, north side of the road, on the main drag. At dinner, I found out the wife was into stone, a retired archaeologist, and dealing with health issues, she is now a jewelry maker. And what a collection of stones she has....they were so lovely I couldn't leave without purchasing a small token for myself.

But back to bunnies, my folks provide water for the birds, the chickens from across the street come to water, as well as ring necked doves, robins, blue jays, tiny browns that are not sparrows, and many others...but bunnies come too! I did get a picture of a bunny...but that got us to talking about the bunny family we used to have...now I am sure I will get this partly wrong and partly right but when we were kids and lived on Beeson Rd., someone gave us bunnies. Now, George - the sis who now lives in Tulsa- and named so by an "uncle" - named our bunnies after the Farkel Family (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Farkel_Family), but I am pretty sure for us they were the Hirkamur family, Fanny, Frankie, Fritz, Fudgy, and Ferdie. It happens they were all girl bunnies, and no one is for sure what happened to them....one wonders- could a new stone family grouping live in Virginia?

Today finds me on the east side of KC, Mo. as the trusty pick up gets some clutch work done...
and then hopefully on tomorrow to the Vintage Motorcycle days in Mid-Ohio..will I see you there? http://www.amadirectlink.com/vmd/2008/

purchasing stone

As a newbie in the stone carving world, I was in hopes of buying some stone. I have about 8 things that I would like to carve. Some are from a trip this spring to the Atlanta Aquarium, and some are from ideas spurred from pictures in newspapers and magazines. I was in hopes of visiting 2Sculpt later this summer in Lawrence, Ks. but the owner will be away carving in New Mexico when we travel through. So I was searching on line and came up with a Craig's list ad of a sculptor who was retiring from carving after a shoulder injury. Boy did I score. I purchased soap stone in gray, pink, green and brown, and some sandstone! But I am still looking for that extra big stone that will provide an opportunity to do my first extra big piece as an abstract, which I hope some day will sit in the oval drive, for the front drive. Wishing...planning...hoping...and still working on Bun-Bun for my Bunny Boy.

Flexibility

I am a clumsy person...always have been. My sisters used to say "she can't chew gum and walk". This last winter I fell three times. I was in extreme discomfort, but the Dr. said I just needed some physical therapy and with a few exercises from a friend who is a physical therapist, I was making progress, and the pain had been relieved.

There are a number of people working in the stone studio in Roanoke County. Some are ladies my age, not young but not too old. There was a discussion about an exercise program by Teresa Tapp. One lady, purchased Teresa Tapp's Fit and Fabulous in 15 Minutes the web site is http://www.t-tapp.com/. Others at the studio say she looks as if she is slimming down. She said, she wasn't sure she looked better, but she felt better. I have this collection of weight loss, diet, and exercise books, but I was convinced to go get the book. What is amazing, with two weeks of occasional use..I can see over my left shoulder to check oncoming traffic. Worth the purchase price? Oh yeah!

Today's work

Here is today's progress on the bunny. This is not fast work, but it is rewarding.

Stone sculpting

This bunny had 19 hours of work in it when this picture was taken. It was the last day of using the "heavy equipment" on him. The next week I started with a riffler. My teacher tells me that with 19 hours of roughing the shape, I have 19 hours of refinement, and another 19 hours of sanding and polishing ahead of me.

This has been a fun process, I have taken painting, design, pottery, and other art classes. Perhaps this is my medium.

Stone Rabbits

When the children were small, they would visit Grandma's house. Grandma lived in an large two story home on Phillipe Parkway in Safety Harbor. The house had poured cement steps, and there lived on those stone steps a large stone rabbit. He resided just to the south of the Monkey Puzzle tree for many years. But one time when we came home to visit, the rabbit was missing. It would have taken at least two good sized men to be able to move that rabbit.

Fast forward 25 years, this spring a friend challenged me to take a stone sculpting class that the local Y was offering. So we both signed up. The teacher, Sue Brovosky, had lots alabaster, marble, dendritic, and virginia soap stone available. I chose a piece of virginia soap stone.

I had another friend tell me that the stone must tell you what lies inside. Another said, you may carve what you want. I had wanted to carve a rabbit, perhaps a small rabbit, to replace my lost friend. But it was obvious when I picked up the stone that there was a rabbit waiting to be revealed. In the first two hours, others could see the rabbit, waiting patiently. The stone weighed 9.5 pounds and was too small to use a chisel and hammer on, but it has 12 hours of files to date. And each time I spend time with him, he looks more and more like a rabbit.