What is it ?

Someone asked today. The sculpture is so simple, just a rectangular dish that will stand on its edge in the landscape. I am always a bit stumped by this question which has of course been asked many times in the past. The sculpture is not ‘of’ anything, it is merely trying to provoke certain thoughts or feelings in the viewer. I do of course have doubts myself. This sculpture is really big and yet really simple, perhaps there is just not enough there and the viewer will feel cheated in some way. I have so often found however that the ideas that work best are very simple. Simple forms seem lovely to live with to me. Our lives would seem to be overstimulated. We are constantly bombarded with information. It must be partly for this reason therefore that I like the sculpture to be very still and calm. The sun will create moon shaped shadows as it moves past the sculpture. The mottled surface will change gently in the changing light. Might it bring to mind a screen? A startling rectangle in the landscape. Yes, I think it might work really well. We shall see.

Thin slivers

Another clear day not quite as cold as yesterday although Jordan and I spent a fruitless half hour trying to make the tap work to give him a water supply. Eventually we gave up and used a bucket. The block work he completed yesterday was frosted in the night as the tarpaulin had blown off. I hope it will be ok.

I have spent all day cutting a thin slice off the sculpture to get closer to the final thickness. You can see the limit of my progress between the hammer and the disc. I will allow it to be thinnest in the middle where least strength is needed. At the bottom I will need plenty of thickness to take the stainless pins.

Chopping done

I have removed all the big pieces and must now begin to proceed with more caution. Today I finalised the edges and made their thicknesses uniform. I want the edges to be at right angles to the sides at every point, and because of this the angle of each edge is constantly varying. I spent most of the day on this task. The whole piece begins to look more animated. The picture attached is before cutting the edges. Jordan is back from a trip to New Zealand and brought the freezing cold with him. Although we are now in March the winter has returned. Flurries of snow, a fierce wind, but dry. Jordan valiantly carried on with the block work for the new barn, probably wishing he had stayed in NZ.

Mountains of waste

Good progress today despite the return of the rain which made a small pond in the bottom of the sculpture. I was eventually forced to move my shelter before the pond turned into a lake. The white dust that has fallen all around for days has become a sticky gloop. Although the mountain of waste stone is enormous, I am wondering if I can use it as a hardcore for the new barn floor. One more day of this chopping should see me with an unshaped but roughly formed dish.

Spring warmth

Another day of relentless chopping. I have made quite a bit of progress although there may be quite a bit more to remove when I have done the bulk of the block removal. I feel it is better not to try and get too close to the final thickness first time around as it would be too easy to get it wrong. Stone cannot be put back!

Chopping marble

A beautiful day. The sun shone and I could definitely feel the warmth of spring on my back for a few hours this afternoon. The tonnage of marble to be removed is considerable however and I made good inroads into it today. I anticipate at least a week of this chopping work before I begin to measure depths and to work with any degree of artistry.

Turn over

Rather terrifying but all went smoothly. Nigel and Rich my wonderful neighbours came down with their telehandler and we rolled the sculpture over so that I could work on the other side. One telehandler lifting and the other catching and lowering. The first time we tried this with a similar sized block the wooden purpose built frame crumpled under the weight. This time the frame of steel was fine. I now have a huge amount of waste stone to remove. Pooch came round and took this wonderful and atmospheric picture. Thank you Pooch. The whole area now looks like it has been snowing. No snow, just dust.