Friday, November 28, 2008

Big Ole' Whatever

This is one of my rock carvings that I have turned into a wall mounted water spitter. When carving any rock you can either impose your own will and chisel away, usually done more so when the grain or the veining is what you seek to exploit as in the case of marble or soapstone, or you can follow the cues the rock is giving you. In other words to exaggerate what the rock already looks like. We've all done it. We look at a rock and think it looks like an animal or a face or a big ole' whatever.
And if you have never done it try it today with the very next rock, cloud or pile of mashed potatoes you look at. Ask yourself what does it look like? It's a great exercise for your imagination. Unfortunately it's a skill most adults lose especially in this day and age of motherboards and megapixels.
Ask any child to look at a rock and to tell you what they see. My guess is that within seconds they will rhyme off an assortment of critters real and imaginary. Something to be nurtured..."he who has imagination has wings".
In this case the rock was perfectly shaped for hanging on a wall with a great downward gaze which is what I chose to work with. After carving it was drilled and fitted with copper tubing to accept a water hook-up through the back. I can picture this mounted on an Ivy covered wall spitting into a hewn rock bowl.

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