Finally, some progress

Work on this stone has been spotty lately due to a heart rhythm disturbance I've been experiencing. It is now pretty constant and saps my energy and will to work. Will see a heart electrical specialist tomorrow. Anyway, I've been able to put in 2-1/2 hrs. on it over the last two days and the stone is starting to show some cohesiveness of design as some of the major forms get refined. This particular piece of alabaster contains lots of areas of dark, dirt-like impurities, and in some cases I have no choice but to carve them out. As a result, the design of this piece is at least in some measure determined by what I can't work with instead of what I can. I remain optimistic, however, that the final character of the piece will be good despite this ongoing problem. It's obvious that the generally circular theme is dominant, but I have yet to resolve the projections around the periphery to my liking.

A belated post –

Some time has elapsed since my last post and the stone looks quite a bit different now. I realized that this piece of alabaster had significantly more and larger areas of the "dirt" that I had to deal with in the first two orange pieces. It became obvious that a fairly significant area of the stone was going to need to be removed to get rid of it - the stuff has no structural strength, and would not be a suitable surface long term. It's really as bad as a sand pocket.

So, instead of just getting rid of the material and leaving its cavity exposed, or trying to fill the cavity with tinted epoxy or similar filler, I decided to carve out the biggest area of it and make it a feature of the design. This doesn't always work out too well, but in this case I really like the result. I ended up having to carve completely through to the other side and then finished the edges in a manner consistent with the overall theme. Side A is nearly fully resolved, but side B is going to be more of the same, so the piece's sense of unity is far from a done deal.

A start . . .

After the above photo was taken, I worked a bit on the other side and, to get the sides roughly parallel, I had to take off a significant portion of the stone. So, this one will end up being a bit thinner than the previous two orange alabaster pieces. That's okay. I'm kind of anxious to see how I like the thinner look and how the reduced mass might suggest a change in the type of base I use.

1st work on a new piece

After finishing "Compass" (and selling it!), Lori and I took a vacation to Montana to visit our dear friend Karen. We had a fine time and returned relaxed to Illinois on the 14th. Yesterday, I planned to start a new piece, working with a 60lb. slab of orange alabaster that arrived before we left. However, the heat / humidity combination was just too much and I didn't get out to my south-exposed studio until around 10:00 a.m.  -  too late. Montana was hot too, but the humidity was much lower. I managed to get a much earlier start today and got quite a bit accomplished. First, I cut the slab into three pieces and then started to work the largest one - the only one that could contain a circular piece, since this will be the sixth sculpture in my Mandala series, which I started last year. The original stone and the result of the first day's work are shown in the photos above. Remember to click on them to see a large version.

Compass - the 2nd finished orange alabaster piece

As it turns out, my plan for the second side of this stone worked beautifully. I was able to keep most of the un-pigmented translucent surface, and it creates a really interesting effect. It is called "Compass" and sold almost immediately.

Ready for final finishing

Here are the last two photos before I wet-sand this piece and then mount it on a concrete base (which I have yet to saw and drill). I expect to finish it sometime tomorrow, and will post some shots of the completed piece.

Side B shows its face

A few days ago, I thought that this side of the piece was going to be a real problem, so imagine my delight at having it coming along so smoothly. The radial theme I envisioned is working out well, although the finishing stage is going to really take some time with all those edges. However, it's all in the service of taking the best advantage of the layer of glass-like material over the
underlying orange stone. I am now thinking it's a layer of silica, but it seems to carve and finish very well. It could also be just a layer of alabaster without any impurities. I've never seen this before and am anxious to get it finished.