POVERTY Mt Speed Siltstone. 12 cm w x 13 cm h x 5 cm deep

An obvious reference to German Expressionism. I find the political similarities a bit difficult and feel artists should be involved more in social issue discussions. This has two sides to their story and is open to a lot of different interpretations. It was smoothing with wet and dry that bought the colour out.

With a tray I could work inside, using rasps, files etc. Not too hard or messy, just not too quick either. I made a rough clay model first but basically direct carving. The planes catch the light and I played with this. While I did like the rough finish it is more suitable for bigger pieces and I will do that later.

A TRIP TO THE QUARRY, FOR ART MATERIAL.

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That heap over there is the spalls. Pay and pick out what I want from there. Would have loved some bigger ones but I can’t lift like I used to, and then I have to move them around at home.
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One is the same brown I carved before, and there is a lot of interesting stuff in this lot. The greys are a nice tone, same tint as float glass, and some are very fine grained. Will polish well I think.

WHO’S FERNERY IS IT ?

Spending most of his time just sitting around watching me and snoozing. I think he’s glad I’m home a lot but we’re both getting older and they say dogs and their owners are alike. How sad ?

2 out of 3 aint bad

FOR THE STUDENTS, PAKISTAN. Mount Speed Siltstone. 14 x 10 x 6 cm h
Reasonably hard, about slate I guess. Can split. Cut with diamond saw, carbide burrs, files well. Sanded smooth with wet and dry to a silky finish. Has a nice wood grain like pattern in layers. Would work better a bit bigger. This is just a bit I found on the road, fell off a truck I guess. They sell direct and cheap trailer load so that’s next as I really like it.

MIDDLE EASTERN MADONNA 38 cm tall. Found sandstone. Inconsistant and very hard.

EXPERIMENTS THICK AND FAST

The Mount Speed siltstone, has quite a nice grain pattern and I like the colour. Cuts fine with the diamond saw, dia. burrs and carbide burrs, if a bit slow smooth. I’ve learnt if you chisel hard on or near the grain angle it will split. As I have experience with cutting wheels and burrs it seems a bit unneccesary to learn to chisel. Maybe. We’ll wait on that.

Being too hot to work outside meant I could draw up the disc from a marble slab, and today I cut the design in. Using carbide burrs in the flex shaft, seems to work fine and now I’ve even cut out the centre hole. Not real quick but no hassle and carbide cuts fine, with good control.Water running over to keep the dust down, and there’s lots of it. Looking foreward to this, as the marble gets thin it becomes translucent. The light coming through is great.

The sandstone is showing me how diamond cutting wheels can be used on their side,a little, to shape and they leave a smoother surface than the cup grinding wheels. I’m going to try and get a 50mm wheel soon for the diegrinder or straight drill(stronger if slower).Some offcuts were left sitting in water over the hot days, and now they crumble fairly easily. SO the sculpture is soaking in water to see if it carves easier.