365 Portrait Project

I had the pleasure of inviting my local primary school headmaster from Barming out to my workshop to have a look at what I’ve been up to since starting the Cobtree Project. Robin Halls is a Head Master and is also a very keen photographer who last January set himself a task of taking a portrait every day for a year. He has called this body of work ‘The 365 Portrait Project’. I can recall speaking with Robin probably 11 months ago about his work and how challenging his project sounded due to his busy commitments as a Head Teacher. Of course, I was more than happy to invite him out to the workshop when he expressed an interest in photographing portraits of artist’s to add variety to the theme of individual portraits. On previous occasions before when I have had portraits taken I am normally unrecognisable. My face is obscuered with a dust mask, ear defenders and a hat, just the way I like it!! However, as it was early in the morning and I had yet to get togged up with mask and grinder Robin was able to catch me dust free and content. You can check out more of Robin’s photos and follow his last few weeks of portraits by clicking the link below. You might even be surprised and see someone you know!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/91676789@N07/11484350354/in/set-72157638291575344

Segment: 'Each of the parts into which something may be divided'

The final two segments that will complete the ‘Seed Stack’ sculpture are starting to take shape. A good morning was spent grinding and blocking out the arch’s in the two stones. I’ve decided to put the two blocks together to work the overall ‘dome’ shape and then they will be separated, turned over and hollowed out.  It sounds like a lot of work but I have lifted the blocks up onto one of the wider benches to save the strain on my back and therefore making me work faster, well that’s the logic! It’s hard to think it’s nearly Christmas with the sort of weather there has been today. Beautiful sunshine motivated my progress but it seemed it was not long before the tungsten lamps had to be turned on because of poor visibility.  

 

 

 

 

Polishing Portland

The last lot of stone for the project has arrived from Portland in Dorset. The blocks will form part of ‘Zebra Rock’ and the bases for the ‘Leaf seat’ and ‘Seed Stack’. The Portland is such a contrast to the Irish Blue Limestone in so many ways. The stone range is distinguished by its creamy colour and the fossilised shells it contains, combining a number of qualities ideal for building. It’s easy to work, allowing intricate design profiles to be created, and is particularly suitable for detailed facades. These qualities have made it one of Britain’s most popular and widely used building stones – From Maidstones very own County Hall to St Paul’s Cathedral, they have all been built using Portland stone!

While everything was still on the pallet I couldn’t resist starting on sanding back one of the blocks and drilling the fixing holes. As it's starting to get a little crowded in the workshop there will need to be a little bit of housekeeping take place later so I can start working out the order of how and when all this stone will be carved. 

Strange Fruit

 

This is how I have decided to finish and treat the surface of two of the stone seed forms. The Kilkenny Limestone can be very effective when attempting to suggest an ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ or inner and outer skin quality to a sculpture. British sculptor  Peter Randell Page uses this stone type a lot for that particular reason, especially when working with natural and organic forms. It is achieved here by simply contrasting a rough ‘punch marked’ surface with a polished interior. The beauty I find with this material is the change in colour, from the subtle greys and blues to the sparkling fossilised black centre. All the Irish Blue Limestone in this project has been provide by McKeon Stone, Ireland. 

http://www.mckeonstone.ie/view_products.asp?id=17&sectid=7



 

Balancing Act

Before I carried on carving the remaining two spheres, I really needed to drill and stack the balls on top of each other to ensure the segments and angles resembled my idea! In order to make the sculpture safe I drilled into the bottom stone and inserted a pin into the studio floor. The second sphere was offered up using the 'Lewis pin' which made life so much easier. The Lewis pin is a split steel pin on a lifting eye that gets inserted into the drill hole. When the stone is lifted the weight of the stone forces the pin to lock inside the drill hole enabling it to be safely lifted, giving me a nice straight lift. This method enabled me to hoist the stone above the bottom stone and connect the two together with another stainless steel pin. As this was only temporary, the pins remained loose and there was no resin glue used. The third stone however was a little tricky! I could not use the Lewis pin in the top of the stone to lift it as this would have left a visible hole in the top! Instead I used the straps and gentley lifted the stone trying to ensure it was cradled and balanced at all times. The problem you always have when lifting  a stone with no edges is the possibility of it slipping out of the straps. Encountering any lifting problems now is always good, as it's best to be prepared and have all the problem solving done before installation. Now that it's all together I can begin to draw onto the remaining two spheres and then disassemble...which should be fun!