Some Trouble at the Gate

Saturday we did our Christmas party. It went quite well. Almost all of our friends came over. The house was full and noisy, and there was a bunch of food. The problem with playing host is that I seldom manage to get enough to eat at these gatherings. It's go here, talk there, go for a bite, but wait! Something or other needs done, and before I know it the evening is over, I'm dizzy tired, and I haven't stopped moving all day.

 

Then typically, I find I'm too keyed up to sleep despite being all tired out.

So my tank was less than half full when I went out, and got to work on the big rock Sunday morning.

The task of the day was simple enough. The stone has a good flat surface for a base, but there was a drill scar that ran about three quarters of the way across the flat bottom. 

I had shoved the rock around so that the drill scar lined up with the edge of the patio pavement. Even with part of the base hanging off the edge the stone sat stable. Today's task was to eliminate the drill scar, and chisel away enough stone so that I could run the base line around where I cut the material away. This would leave some rock hanging out over the edge of the base, but I figured I could work with that easily enough.

Didn't quite work out that way.

The rock still sits flat and stable, but to my eye, there is just way too much material hanging over the one edge of that base. I under-estimated just how much overhang there would be. It does not make for a pleasing form.

 

This isn't the first time something like this has happened, and I've always found some way to correct an awkward basic shape.

But along with my greatly dimished level of physical energy has come a dimished level of confidence. It feels like a major fuck-up. I shoulda' known better, planned better...

But, like I said, this is not the first time I've made a less-than-perfect move. I've got some ideas. It'll work out.

 And So It Begins

Wednesday, December 13, 2023 I wrestled the big rock out of the pile, and got it propped up at the bottom of an  eight foot long ramp of 3/4 inch plywood laid over a robust length of 2X6 board. But that was as far as I got. The rock weighs 125 pounds. I can drag and shove it around the ground, but I do not have the juice to lift it. Nor did I have the juice to work it up the ramp to the tabletop. I had to wait for Thursday when Juan came by to take care of our lawn. Even so, it did take the two of us to get the rock safely up on the table. Here it is:

And now I'm faced with a new set of problems, in getting this project underway. Ususally, the first step is to grind the surface of the rock smooth with the angle grinder. But that would mean picking it up off the table, and taking it out into the yard... No can do. Same with setting a flat base. The rock does have a flat surface, but, again- it's too heavy to do what I usually do.

So the first few steps are going to be fairly big excavations. You can see the drill hole at the left end of the base. That hole runs almost all the way across the width of the stone, and it's going to mark the outside edge of the base cut. I already tried sitting the stone flat with that straight drill line hanging off the edge of the pavement. It's quite stable, and will make for a nice, roughly round foundation for the sculpture. There's going to be some serious rock-breaking, and  heavy work with the bow saw, and point chisel coming up. Once I've cleared about thirty five, or forty pounds of rock away, I'll have something a little easier to manipulate.

This is going to be a long series. It's Friday night as I sit here typing, just putting a cap on a long day. Today was lost to housework, because tomorrow, Saturday, we're doing our Christmas open house/potluck thing. Maybe Sunday I can strike the first blows on this monster.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 September Stone on the Shelf

I just don't know what it is with me and titles. Most writers want a catchy title to pique readers' interests. You know- just a hint at the content, and maybe a teaser that there is going to be something titillating somewhere in the story. I just throw up whatever stupid thing pops into my head, and in this case, give away the whole plot before the first sentence is even written. So try to guess what this post is going to be about. 

Anyway, here it is.

Here's how it started:

...and how it ended up:

I've been working on the finishing for the last few days. Today was a long, long session. I'm pleased with the effort, even though I know I'll look at it tomorrow morning, and find a bunch of little things that need to be touched up. 

 I left a lot of the natural shape of the top part of the stone as it was, and went with a hand-drawn, slightly funky presentation, rather than work everything into a 'machine perfect' arc and spiral.  I have a feeling that this one may sell. I hope to get one more sculpture done before the Santa Fe Springs show this spring. But the next one has to be a big, significant effort. I've had my eye on the big stone that has been sitting weathering away in the pile for over a year now. It's a big chunky rough cube of milky translucence. I have only a vague idea of what I want to do with it, but a lot of good things start out with a sort of vague idea. Only problem is that I can't lift the damn thing. I'll think up somethin'...