Monchelsea Place - History of a Sculpture

At least 90% of my day is spent with one of these in my hand.  I use two, because after making several cuts with one I leave it to cool down and pick up the other one!! The image below distinctly shows how beautiful the Ancaster Weatherbed Limestone is with its unusual Blue and Beige colour. Im excited to see how the final pattern and mix of blue will appear on this stone when  finished.  

 Scaling up the model and roughly working out which bits to remove in order to start revealing the first profile of the sculpture. (I find using blue spray paint works best!!)   Drilling a sequence of long drill holes across the surface I want to remove using a very old and traditional method used by quarry men centuries ago. The term for the splitting of the stone requires 'plugs and feathers' which are steel wedges which when inserted into the drill holes and hammered down forcing the steel pins to expand and causing the stone to crack and split...hopefully where you want it to split!  

When the stone arrives and the lorry goes and there is complete quiet, I always have to spend a few days just looking at surfaces, making measurements, studying what needs to be removed and how best to do it. There is a real strong energy which comes from being surrounded by huge blocks like this. The displacement of the stone from the quarry to the yard can always be a bit overwhelming but in a good way and you pray to the stone gods that all will go to plan!!   After all the pontificating, you just need to break the silence and get on with it.   

Its a great feeling when you hear the sound of the lorry roar up the lane and into the yard with the stone from the quarry. It always feels like a small part of the journey of the sculpture has been achieved. From conception of the idea, to scaling up the dimensions, to visiting the quarry and finding the correct blocks to having them finally delivered seems like it can take a long time, but the hard work is just about to begin!! The largest slab is 4.6 ton with the remaining weighting 3.6 ton (with the small piece on the edge making up the lorries full 12 tonne capacity)