DIONYSUS the wine god.

Finished, as well as it is going to be. Lots of learning about the stone in this one. I like the end figure, has a certain character I was aiming for, and not the full realism. A coat of tile sealer, but I wouldn’t leave it outside. About 17 cm diam. and 30 cm tall.

Tungsten carbide burrs in the flex shaft (foredom) were needed as the stone waas resistant to the rasp and a file was only good for a final smoothing. Very dusty work and I kept a nuisance mask on. Using water made twice the mess, and I’m unsure of the absorbancy of the stone.

Another piece of Mt Speed siltstone. A bit harder than I first thought. Used the angle grindern with a diamond cup grinder then diamond cutting wheels at first to get some bulk away. Good old bunnings. It takes some imagination to see what the result will be, and with direct carving there will always be changes as you go along.

BACCHANALIA playful experiments

Finished with 2 coats of slate sealer. A bit of a mess actually, but I’m glad I did it, just for what I found out about it all. Too soft actually and to prove it,there grew a large crack all around the mid layer of white in the base.So it can’t go out, and I have to decide wether to just smash it, or try for a clean break that would leave a shallow but OK base.(doubtful) Maybe just leave it sitting in a corner of the fernery.

Tracing paper to get it precise. Drawing of white on black. After a week of practicing deeper intaglio which I haven’t done for 20 years, I found it didn’t stand out clear enough. So I reverted to surface “drawing” with plenty of dark contrast.

A found junk shop bowl, and plastecine to practise I find easier than just drawing. There is a lot of cutting down from the top which broke my first effort.

Using some of the cameo carving practise I carved grapes in red and white, leaves in grey. The stone was very soft from decomposing by the weather, I think. Too crumbly at times but as an experiment I went ahead.

This rock showed several layers (striations) and seemed easy to carve with a rasp, file or knife.

STUDIO CLEAN UP DAY.

Studio clean up day, I’m not going to call it the shed anymore. Even put a plastic sheet between the drill bench and the window. At last I can see out. Cleaned a few years of dust and too much stone from doing experiments inside. Time for some serious glass engraving. There’s some graal to do, and without the kiln I’m trying some found recycled ideas, and time to practice on that lathe.