I had a big birthday party the other day. I might as well say it – I ‘m 70 now.
And feeling pretty good.
The presents I got were mostly trees, bushes and plants. But the biggest and most impressive was this;
brought in by tractor by the farmer here – a present from Magnus Eriksson and his family.
A found object from some corner of this farm.
A fantastic work of art formed by volcanos and carved by glaciers.
The weather has been unusually warm this October. There are lots of flowers and vegetables left in the garden, and the stone work could probably go on for a few more weeks, but I’m going to end it for this year, and start again when it warms up in spring. Today is another glorious fall day, and I did the final stretch of cementing this morning.
I’m quite proud of my progress this year.
It’s been so mild with only lite frosts that the tomatoes haven’t completely died yet.
If the weather stays warm next week, I’ll mix up a little more fine cement and fill in the spaces between the new stones to polish it off.
One of my stone sculpting teachers, Anna Löwdin, had an exhibition of her latest works – both stone sculptures and paintings.
So thin and polished – It glows!
Vintagez played jazz/blues.
More stone art in the garden. I still have to get a good set of tools.
Soon. And I’ll have to take the workshop again. Many times.
I should have known. Soon after I bought the train ticket, I realized that the museum would most likely be closed, as they usually are on mondays. I wanted to see an exhibition of Sashiko Stitching by Hisako Hagiwara from Japan. Alas.
The outdoor part was open, so I had a great time viewing the collection of old buildings and stone work.
This magnificent church was built 1927 in the old medieval style.
Wow! A 20th century gothic church!
The metal door;
The bell tower in wood covered with tar paint. Smells sooo good!
The stone wall surrounding the church yard;
The opening in the wall;
Not far away, I found this massive stone fence post.
And this stone garden bench.
A few more ideas for the garden.
Place: Länsmuseet Västernorrland
Murberget, Härnosand
I’ve gotten up to the 1.5 meter level and the finishing touches are done, so now this section too will be covered for warmth and dryness until next spring.
Next year I hope to get this part done, including the arch above the opening, then landscape the area and plant a peach tree. There is a grape vine already getting established, if I don’t trample it too much. And more zone 1 plants will go in.
I just wish the yew hedge to the west – for cutting off the prevailing winds – would grow as quickly as the stone wall.
You can’t really tell from this picture.
But I did manage to get the surface very shiny and smooth. I went through all the grades of pumice block and sandpaper from 40 to 1200, got rid of all the scratches, but still I wasn’t satisfied. The teacher made me happy again, saying that that is the best one can do because the stone has it’s own structural flaws that show through.
Anyway, that is the best polishing job I’ve ever done.
I have never in my life been able to properly polish anything. I can never get rid of those unsightly scratches from earlier rasping, grinding and sandpapering.
I guess now is the time to learn. Even if it takes me all day tomorrow.
I’m quite proud of myself.
I broke on through (to the orher side) without breaking the stone in two.
And I came out exactly where I predicted.
Now I must get into the power tools, altho I like the slow pace of pounding and chiseling by hand.
Many years ago I saw some old ladies working on stone at a sculpting course by the sea, and I thought – I’m going to do that too when I get old. So now, after a few years tryng to get into such a course, I have done it.
I have tried to learn on my own and made many mistakes. Now I can learn about the proper tools, how to use them, security and the various kinds of stone.
After an hour of introduction we each chose a piece of stone and started pounding. I took a piece of Sala Marble. Everyone seemed to go almost directly to the power tools. It sounded like a nest of angry wasps revved up to volume 11. I chose to work with hand tools only for the first day, and got the foolish idea to make a hole through my stone by hand, figuring that that would be a good way to learn the tools and strengths of the stone.
The instructor informed me that there are drills for making holes, and that even the ancient Romans had drills (powered by slaves), and that I was dulling the points on the chisels. He sharpened them, gave me some pointers on angles and told me to continue with my experiment. At the end of todays session I had managed to get most of the way through without breaking the stone. Tomorrow!
Here’s what one of the instructors is working on.
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Another day another stone in Stockholm.
