First Project in over Fifteen Years

 Italian Crystal Alabaster.

Sometime, about fifteen years ago I was just on fire with the creative burn. Working in stone was so much fun it should have been illegal. I was about half way through this piece. I was literally in mid-stroke with a rasp when that creative fire died. It was like someone had thrown a switch. I stepped back from the table, and heard myself say, "It's over." I tried, and tried to get back on it, but somehow I just couldn't even force myself to continue.

 

Fast forward to this last winter, and the end of the world as we knew it. I'm not even going to go into the details. You know. Like so many others, I have struggled mightily to maintain some semblance of mental health in the face of this world-killing insanity. I prayed a lot. 

Oddly enough, it was  post on Gerard VanderLeun's site, American Digest that provided the spark. The post featured footage of the French Impressionists: Monet, Degas, and the sculptor Rodin. There was ancient film footage of Rodin working a long chisel, and a heavy mallet at eighty years of age. I saw that, and the light came on again. I built a new carving table. I retrieved this piece from the corner of the garage where it had sat. I got out the tools, and, well, here it is.

This was a tough project. The raw stone  was roughly in the shape of the bowl of a spoon You can see the one side is all shot through with clay. I had to dig out a lot of unworkable stone. The result was a figure that is twisted, contorted, and torqued in every way. I had to make everything balance with nothing symmetrical. The only thing the photos do not show is the center of the donut shaped segment in the middle of the piece. That center is carved very thin, and, in most lighting, shines like a little lamp. All in all, I'm pleased with my effort.

And next? I have another chunk of this Italian crystal. It weighs in at just over a hundred pounds (about three times the size of this piece). 

So the burn is back, and I am deeply grateful for it. For now, the world can continue to go to hell in a handbasket. I withdraw my participation. I can't do much of anything about the madness out there. I can focus my energy, and effort into creating a thing of beauty, something that will be here after I'm gone. One day someone else will own everything I made. Someone I will never see will get some pleasure out of owning one of these white elephants. Sending a little beauty down through time. Can't think of anything better to do.

Stay tuned. I'll be blogging the whole process of working the big stone...

 

JWM