Further refinements

Today I solved the problem that has been the biggest source of inconsistency in this piece. I simplified the former stair-step area and straightened it out into a ramp-like form that I like much better. Compare it to the photo below and you'll see the difference.

Simplify – Simplify

This has been a day of some fairly significant change to the piece. It was starting to look a bit cartoony to me and I have known for a while that either the small piercing or the upside down stairs had to go. Well, they both fell to the chisel today, and I think the piece is improved because of that. The last part that is still in its conceptual infancy - the side shown here on the right - is the next thing I'll be tackling.

Forging ahead -

As can be seen in the photo above, I decided to go ahead and complete the rest of the ridges in the manner of the top one. At this point, the plan is to briefly echo that look on the adjacent side, but only about half way up from the bottom, with the stepped character gradually disappearing toward the right side. As you can see from the circular pencil line, I'm planning to make the square piercing near the top into a cylindrical hole to echo the piercing on the adjacent side.

Day 10

I did not have a lot of time to devote to the stone on this busy Friday, but the progress I did make maps out the basis of the final side. I was planning to make a succession of horizontal inverted steps the full width of the side, but Holy MOLY! That would take a lot of time, so I may alter the concept a bit. I do like the first one a lot, however, so we shall see. . .

Holy Sculpture!

Decided today that I needed a piercing in the main body of the stone, but was unsure about just where the vertical slot would emerge on the other side and at what angle. That dilemma was solved by making a cupped-out area on the flat side opposite the slot after drilling a hole through from the other side. The two features work together, I think, in an interesting way, and the cup shape gives me another sub-theme to develop.
Click on the three-view image to see it larger, and expand the window horizontally to maximize it.

just an hour today

Time was limited today, so I tried to do something with impact rather than just dink around with details of parts already resolved. I had intended to do one or two piercings on the curving side through to one or both of the flat sides, but upon sketching them in pencil, I realized that those were not what I was looking for and would not work at all. I then came up with the concept of a tall, vertical slit (that may or may not go all the way through the piece), and this was much closer to the evocative feel that I was intending. But what is being evoked? Can't tell yet!

couldn't resist some detail . . .

I have to confess to being largely in the dark about the process of carving intuitively - that is, making it up on the fly. When I carve with a plan, I go all the way and have multiple sketches, printouts from 15-25 angles and follow them as closely as possible. When I use the intuitive method, I have no idea what the finished stone will look like when I start, and the activities of each day are similarly unknown ahead of time.
So, I don't know how the sort of detailing evident in today's work comes about - whether I truly do make it up as I go along, see a theme developing and enhance it or have some overall idea somewhere in my subconscious that manifests itself as I work. However it happens, it is a delight to work this way and I'm pretty sure the works that result are better than the preconceived pieces. So, this upside down stair-steppy thing that happened today may become a theme of the piece as I continue.

New stone . . .

Well, I see it's been nearly two months since my last post - no way to run a blog! Apologies are in order, but I've been busy learning new software for a related project and have not been in the studio(s) till about a week and a half ago. The weather has changed for the better so I decided to put the metal mountain project on hold and get myself outside. Above is a sequence of photos of the first six days of work on my last piece of alabaster - I'm planning a trip to the quarry soon to get more.
This is a fairly small piece - I'd guess it to be about 40 lbs. I was planning to do at least one rectangular or square piercing through the main body of the piece, but a serious impurity about 1/2cm. in diameter made the small piercing at the top necessary, uncomfortably close to some edges, but it worked out okay. Please note also that the beautiful veining in this piece of Italian alabaster is largely invisible until the dust is washed off, as shown in photos 5 and 6.