At home, the crew is working hard on the fence. This is the perfect place to practice the art of sculpting woodgrains. They use pictures of actual wood grains as references and, with a variety of tools, recreate them in freshly troweled concrete. Matt is a master at these techniques and is training Jay and Laura (and now Henry) to carve. Previously, I could tell who carved each board, but as they build their skills, it is getting harder to discern the artist. This is going to be a wonderful piece of art when they are done. Stay tuned…
Ships can fly!
It is always an exciting day when we fly our creations into their permanent homes. Today was crane day for the major features of Cap’n Elias’ Shipwreck Cove at Vala’s Pumpkin Patch in Nebraska. The task was quick and painless with a wonderful crane operator and an eager Vala’s crew to hook and guide the features into place and bolt the sections together. The installation of the ship, Skull Rock, the shipwreck and all of their related pieces took less than two hours. Then it was back to laying out and shaping the miniature golf course. A couple more hours’ work tomorrow will ready the course for the extensive concrete work, pond and stream installation and the start of the landscaping. Then I am off on my journey home. But I’ll be back the first week of August to supervise the placement of the final features and do the final layout of the greens and sidewalks. Stay tuned…
Henry's first board
It was an exciting day today back at the shop as it was the first sculpting day on the 150 feet of ‘wooden’ fence. This project on our own property is a wonderful training opportunity for the crew. Each day, they do a section, trowelling on our special concrete mix and then sculpting in the detailed woodgrains, every board unique from the rest. Matt is our woodgrain master. Jay is rapidly building his skills with each project. Today, eight-year-old Henry worked alongside Jay, just starting to learn this difficult skill. He was a very eager student, and his proud dad, Peter, sent me a picture of Henry’s first woodgrain this evening. Henry is determined to do a board all by himself tomorrow. The force is strong in this one. Stay tuned…
