I've been sneaking out to the shop from time to time over the weekend, sculpting on the Time Keeper's factory building. I've gotten a good start on the stone and brickwork on the lower portion of the front and one side of the building. I've also bulked out the steam plant and chimney for the very tall clock factory. There's a special magic that can only be achieved by working freehand, by eye and allowing things to be very organic and flowing. There will be no straight lines in this project when I am done. As I was working on the hundreds of stones and bricks I was imagining how we would paint them, where we will add rust, stains and aging. It's going to be fun! Stay tuned...
Reclining elephant head
The crew has almost finished applying the galvanized lath to the giant elephant armature. With the wire in place the profile of the elephant is much more visible. This is going to be a very fun piece to sculpt without a doubt. We can hardly wait to see it lifted up and set upright on the garden wall in the coming months.
Under hill tree under structure
I spent much of this week under m welding helmet. I was building the giant armature for the tree that will be 'planted' on the roof of the Under Hill suite of the Hazelnut Inn. It will function as a skylight to the suite below. The first stage was the waterproof flashing/roof that was fabricated to fit over the pony walls of the cast concrete opening. Then I welded the heavy structural steel which will keep everything upright and stable while we apply the concrete skin. Lifting points will be built in to lift it into place. We first have to calculate the center of gravity for the piece to ensure it lifts and hangs straight from the crane without stressing the concrete work.
To build the armature we used many hundreds of feet of one quarter inch thick pencil rod. It comes in twenty foot lengths. This was hand formed and welded into a sturdy grid. Lots of rods are welded back to the structural steel frame to make it wiggle proof. The crew will next tie on the galvanized lath to this framework. That mech will in turn support and reinforce the fibreglass reinforced concrete skin which we will trowel on and then sculpt.
