Something completely different

With the Matbro in the process of being repaired I cannot easily move heavy blocks around. I have been working on a small figure that can be lifted without the need for heavy machinery. Such a change from the sculptures I have been working on for my exhibition at John Martin gallery. The change however is refreshing and requires different thought processes than more abstract sculptures, and stimulates different senses accordingly. Making a complete figure in marble demands massive legs or it would break. It is interesting working with this sort of constraint. I have had the whole of the John Martin collection photographed by Pooch and sent the images off to the gallery in London. They seem to like what I have done so far.

Piercing begun

Cutting into the inside of this piece will take a while as it is all tricky to reach. I cannot yet see if the sculpture will work as it is. I am proceeding quite well but have my reservations about it. Will it work well with flowing square sections? I suspect not. I am ready to change it as soon as I can see the whole clearly enough.

I have begun making enquiries about parts for my stricken telehandler. I am waiting for my wonderful neighbours to help me get it out of the field where it broke down. Still kicking myself for not having checked the main ram was secure, allowing it to work itself free and do such considerable damage. What a fool am I.

Twisting again but Matbro disaster

I have begun to put the twists into the new carving. It is no easy matter trying to plan how much twist should go into each section and which way it should turn. I decided that where the parts cross each other they should be exactly diagonal so as to present the best access. At the top and bottom the sections should be square and parallel to the floor to allow best contact for the base pin. Having decided these criteria the rest fell into place. The other news is that I have badly damaged the telehandler. The main hydraulic ram wobbled itself free and then broke from its end. I then, unaware of the problem but wondering why the boom was not lifting pushed the ram end straight into the gearbox. The power of the ram is so huge that it smashed its way through the gearbox housing and bent all the surrounding metal. What a fool I feel not to notice the pin wobbling free.

Glutton for punishment

There are still a few wobbles in the tricky points of the last sculpture but I have put it aside and started another with a double twist. I can leave the cleaning up till later when the creative flow of this series dies off as it is bound to do at some point. Although the crossing was very tricky to achieve I have started a piece with not one but two crossing points. I am not yet sure if I will split this second crossing piece into segments or not. I might simply put a twist on the already twisting forms. The problem of losing too much strength will be amplified with the addition of the second crossing and to try and further weaken the whole by splitting it into segments might be foolhardy. The feeling of the sculpture without segments will of course be radically different. We shall see if it works out well.

Separated halves

The two parts of the sculpture have been separated. The segments nearest the crossing point are still not very well finished but getting any kind of tool into those confined spaces is difficult and in the end a great deal of the work needs to be done by hand with knuckles knocking against the opposite segments. Awkward and knuckle busting but I am happy with the way it looks. Perhaps I might try another piece along these lines. More twists perhaps which would bring double helix associations I suppose.

Complicated twist

This is certainly a challenge to make. Before carving the individual segments I resolved to carve the form circular in section.The inside sections are very difficult to reach and for the moment the two halves touch in the middle. I would hope to be able to separate them at the end but will leave the material in between whilst working on the rest of the carving so as to provide a little extra strength. This will end up as being quite delicate and I must take care not to leave the joints between the segments too thin. I have been considering having the sculpture lying on its side with two points touching the base, but in the end decided on standing the piece vertically as originally proposed.

Splitting off a new block

I have a new piece started. I am a little uncertain about this sculptural direction and dithered too long at that awful sculptural crossroads. I am planning to sculpt another segmented piece but in a figure of eight form where the crossing parts do not touch. This is technically difficult, but more problematically is taking the current series off in a new direction which I am by no means sure of. Whilst carving my 100 day series, I found myself relaxing about these decisions. I told myself that it was only a day of my life and it was after all a response to a legitimate impulse. Why not? Perhaps the decision is a little like trying on an article of clothing. You never really know for sure if it is for you or not until you have tried it on. With these thoughts in mind I sallied forth into unknown territory today.