The unexpected . . .

While I was working on the stone today, a fairly significant piece of it broke off without warning. There's never any warning. Anyway, my intuitive way of working allowed me to immediately imagine a new final look to the piece - one of the benefits of having a fluid interpretation of its ultimate appearance. I'm getting close to having it all roughed out and will enter the slower-paced intermediate stage.  In the initial work, I'm open to most anything the stone presents, and tend to work quickly and try to make judgements on form without over thinking it. Strangely, this method produces the most cohesive pieces. In essence, the stone has a big say in the outcome.The photos above show both sides as of today, and also the piece that made its sudden exit.

New mandala piece

Here are a couple of photos of a new stone I started yesterday. My intention is to continue in the vein of my last piece which I've decided to name Mandala: Ring of Truth. The new one has no name yet - I'll have to wait for it to acquire a personality. As you can see, I've decided to start with the centrally located piercing and build everything around that. I plan to work more on it in the coming days if the weather holds.

Finished at last

"Mandala 1" is finally finished and mounted. This piece has taken longer to finish (by quite a lot) than I

ever anticipated, and the only reason that seems plausible is that curving lines and surfaces take longer to get right than straight lines and corners do. I wanted to try a rougher stone base for this piece, thinking the contrast with the fine curves would be nice, so I prepared a concrete landscaping stone to pin it to. A felt bottom protects the furniture.

Ready for finishing

After a much longer period than I anticipated, this piece is ready for finishing. In a week or so, I expect to have it sanded, oiled and mounted.

Finally, the second side is getting resolved

The two views of the newest stone shown above were taken in my indoor studio. I've had to move the work inside due to this summer's high temperatures - it was 103˚ yesterday, and my outdoor studio is
on the South side of the property. So, the second side, but for a few minor decisions, is in it's final form and will be ready for the finishing process soon. 

How the other side is going to look

My postings have been sporadic lately due to my struggling with some health issues. I'm planning to be a bit more consistent, but we've had quite a streak of near and plus 100 degree days, so I'm having to work around that as well. Earlier this week, I took some time to address the other side of this piece, which I'm calling "Mandala 1". As you can see, it's similar to side one, with some notable exceptions, one of which is a radial instead of a concentric motif.