Snowblind

 Monday, 6/28/21

Well, here's the progress for this last week. Not much in the way of commentary on anything. Life in this tiny corner of the world has been slow, and uneventful. That is a good thing.  The ship of civilization may well have hit the iceberg, but the water isn't up to my stateroom just yet. So what the hell. May as well keep working.

 (6/24)

It's Thursday, already. I've been digging away at the rock, and the days are sliding right out from under me. I'm still excavating the bowl in the upper part of the figure.  I reached the point where the bowl itself is deep enough. Now it's time to work the shaft though the bottom of the bowl. It's tight, niggling work with very little space to get a tool in. 

 

 Today, or tomorrow I'll get through the bottom of the bowl. Once that through-cut is established things will move quicker. That shaft has to pass through the bowl. The curves, front and back, have to complement one another, and the whole figure in the center has to snake left and right on the way down into the larger bowl at the base of the carving.

 The crystal is wonderfully translucent.  When it catches the sunlight the whole stone glows. But when the bowl is full of light you can't see into it. The camera won't even focus on it:

Everything inside the bowl is just a soft white blur. Even in full daylight I actually have to check the progress with a flashlight to see where I'm going.

(Sunday, 6/27)

Saturday I scratched through the bottom of the bowl, and got started shaping what will be a long teardrop falling through the opening, and into the larger lower bowl. 

 

 

 

Other than digging away at the rock, there has been little going on here at the suburban hermitage. The days are simple, taken up with the stonework, and small chores around the house and yard. 

Saturday I got a note from Troy; there should be big surf at The Wedge, in Newport Beach. So Sunday we got the gang together for a cruise at the beach. The surf turned out to be flat, but the day was hazy, and held the perfect balance between warm and cool. It was good to get out and cruise. The beach was crowded. Scarcely a mask in sight. Thank God.

So here's where the rock stands at the end of June.  With the through-cut established, the work is going to start going much faster. I can finally start shaping in the figure between the bowls. There should be some noticeable changes in the profile by next week.

 

 Thanks for stopping by.