New Rock Art Project: Building a Totem Pole

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So I know you've been dying to know what I've been doing when not honing my MS Paint skills and posting ridiculous pictures on the Zone.

Well, since November, I've been working on my first outdoor sculpture for public exhibition at a local park. This park used to be a reservoir for the city's drinking water 150 years ago, but now is a well-maintained 500-acre County park with woodlands, wetlands, and a lake that gets hundreds of thousands of visitors annually. We saw an eagle and big blue heron there the other day, and it's actually not too far from the crime-ridden city center.

I was one of four artists to get an award to contribute to this year's "Art On The Trail."

I proposed making a "totem pole-like" monument that featured the local creatures that inhabit the park. My proposed sketch:

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I love these threads. Big time congrats on this commission, Alan. Where are you at in the process?

These are some pictures of the local fauna that inhabit the land, lake, and sky around the park that I used for inspiration:

a fox

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a carp

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a bass

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a turtle

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an owl

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The project started wth these limestone blocks, probably from Indiana. Some are reclaimed architectural salvage.

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Each of the four main component sculptures took about a month to make. I could have used more time to carve, but I was on a deadline. The installation had to be completed by April 8 (tomorrow).

Since I work outside for best ventilation, weather was a factor. I can work in the cold as long as it's sunny with no wnd. Not below freezing, though. Luckily, we had a relatively mild winter.

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Being a 3D sculpture, I hade to carve the back side, too. Carving a column with a relief on it was new fo rme. (I purposely wanted to carve shallow images so no yahoo could grab a piece of the artwork and try and pull it off.) The mom fox need a baby fox.

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To be continued.... (I need to go to bed)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh boy, this is fun! Excited to see what the rest of it is. Good work!

Primovera my man

You stone us to our souls

early in the process

I chose to carve a large mouth bass on one side and a carp on the other. 

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they get more detailed as time goes on

Respect.

Everybody must get stoned ! Noice Alan !

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To add some height (the stones themselves measured 40 inches total in height), I added some wooden separators between the pieces made of sturdy white oak (a local wood).

I had them cut to match the shape of the stone.

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I drilled through the wood into the stone and put in some small metal rods for positioning.

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to be continued and thanks stoners!

Nice work, Alan. 

Wow, what a cool project! 

Love to see the work-in-progress. 

Especially like the owl (one of my spirit animals).

So in addition to the art part of the project, I still had to figure out the engineering.  How to balance and secure a few hundred lbs of stone on the end of a log. So it couldn't fall over on some kid.

And because the art is on a trail next to a lake in a park, all the materials and construction had to be all eco-friendly. Can't kill any frogs and such with toxic chemicals.

The site I chose was a the very beginning of the trail right on the lake, just past the bend in the railroad tracks. It;s a Light Rail train now, but used to be part of a historic railroad line. (Someone told me Lincoln's body rode past here from DC to his burial place in Illinois.)

The 2-mile trail actually has two beginnings because people come in from the other side, too. [Some of these facts are pertinent.]

First, I had to did a hole for the foundation. Around here the frost line is 30 inches down.

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Then I had to find a suitable log from somewhere in the park. Ranger Wood (no shit that is his name) helped me drive it somewhat close to the site.

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I pounded some long nails in the side of the log that was going in the hole so the concrete could get a good grip. I don't know if that really helps, but it couldn't hurt.

The log was 3 feet tall and I was going to bury 2 feet of it.

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I laid some gravel down at he bottom of the hole, slid the log down into it and pounded 4 pieces of rebar down against the sides to make the log "longer/deeper."

The top of the log had to be completely level itf it was going to act as a base.

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Now I'd like to mention it was still winter when I did all this. It was still snowing here a few weeks ago. I waited for a few days that might be dry and relatively warm, but unfortunately temps did get below 40 at night, which is not good for cement and construction adhesive. 

Once it was positioned, I poured ten 50lb bags of concrete around the log. Then, without mixing it, poured 10 gallons of water over all the dry concrete. Sounds crazy, but I was basically making a big fencepost and that's how its done nowadays.

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You can tell spring hasn't sprung yet, as of a couple of weeks ago. This dam, which creates the lake, and the control building were built in 1862. Before that time there were gunpowder factories here that supplied the War of 1812.

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Once the components were complete and the base was allowed to cure for a week or so, it was time to make the totem pole.

First step was attaching one of the wooden separators to the base, thinking it would be a whole lot easier to get that level if it wasn't already, instead of trying to level off the top of that log.

I drilled a 1/4 inch hole thru the separator and into the log, and ran a 8 inch metal rod  from the log up into the "fox' stone. This rod was mainly to get it lined up and centered once I was installing on site, as I had already measured and mocked it up beforehand. I guess it would provide a little bit of stability reinforcement, but I relied pro-grade construction adhesive to attach everything.

Available in a tube from Home Depot, it supposedly will hold 3,900 lbs. So that was used on all the stone/wood interfaces. Of course I watched a YouTube to see how to do it.

Ok, it's starting to look like a pole... that's good.

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Good stuff alan 

I love the background stuff, the thinking, researching, planning. I hope you're being paid to think...

Love these threads Alan. Much respect.

 

<I hope you're being paid to think...> 

ha, I used to be...(your tax dollars at work)...  I did get paid for this "Art on the Trail" project but probably spent half of it on materials. Lowes made out pretty well.

Even bought a sander from Harbor Freight to help level the stones' top and bottom surfaces, but it got pretty trashed from all the dust. I'll use it again for something. But mostly use hand tools -- hammer, chisel, and files. Lots of filing and sanding when making a cube into a column.

The biggest expense was probably the wooden separators. I had to go to bumfuck downtown Baltimore to some shady industrial area near the old port to find a woodshop that would take the job. The place actually specialized in making wooden "beer tap handles." Guy said he made 25,000 of them last year and he's a small manufacturer. I passed on using some exotic Hawaiian wood in favor of some local oak.  I treated them with a couple coats of tung oil and Johnson's wax for insect and water resistance.

The limestone was architectural salvage scored on Craigslist.

Alan you might consider putting some angle to the wood piece above the turtle, so it will shed water.

 

Not busting your balls, but I'm seeing that part as being the weak link in design.
 

It will fail (rot) first from standing water if left flat, even if treated. Respect

Also I will say that a permanent public art installation is quite a nice feather in the cap, and you should be real proud of that.

Same as before: level, glue, and place the pin..oh and lift and drop down onto the pin. That was the hardest part.

The fox weighed in at about 90-100 lbs. The fish slightly less. I could lift them but barely as they were like dense little medicine balls. I was in no hurry to get a hernia so I took my time.

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lookin good....

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< putting some angle to the wood piece above the turtle, so it will shed water.>

Thank you Bss... all suggestions always welcome. And thanks Zoners for the compliments.

Yes you are right... good catch. I thought of that as we just had the first big rain and when I checked there was a bit of standing water on that little ledge. Before I started construction I was afraid to muck with it as that white oak wood disc was hard, but "brittle," and I didn't want to compromise the structural integrity, since it had to hold the most unstable piece (the tall owl).  It already had some little cracks in it which I filled with wood glue.

So I went with the decision to just wax the shit out of it. Same with the little ledge on the log below the fox. Believe me it was the topic of a couple of stoned conversations... bevel or not to bevel. I may eventually make some little slanted pieces to put on there.

Next --- the turtle...

When I measured the level-ness of that wood on top of the the turtle, it sloped back very, very slightly. I brought some thin small metal plates with me and used two of them as shims under the back to the turtle to raise it up an 1/8 of an inch of so. That solved the problem and the top was ready for the final piece.

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The owl only weighed 35 lbs. He was like a little cinder block. 

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But cuter.

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a lady bug showed up which is weird because the temps have been down around freezing at nights

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(very appropriate I'm listening to the Circles Around the Sun stream now cause it was great music to carve this thing to)

Great stuff Alan.

Rock on.....

wow, you put a lot of labor in your art. congrats on the install

almost done...

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it needs a finishing touch -- some stones around the base to "frame" it.

 

Ladies and gentleman, I present to you:

TERRAPIN STATION

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Some rise, some fall, some climb
To get to Terrapin

it's on a very popular 2 mile long hiking trail in the forest, some sections are hills - lots of roots and stuff to trip over. But ya gotta pass by the sculpture either way.

Counting stars by candlelight
Some are dim but one is bright
The spiral light on Venus
Rising first and shining best
Oh, from the north-west corner
Of a brand new crescent moon

it's outside under the heavens in  clearing where you can see lots of sky


Where crickets and cicadas sing

Maryland has a LOT of cicadas. A lot.


A rare and different tune
Terrapin Station
In the shadow of the moon
Terrapin Station

It is in the shadow of the moon


And I know we'll be there soon

(Terrapin)
I can't figure out
(Terrapin)
If it's the end or beginning

People commonly access the 2-mile trail from both ends. It actually has two beginnings and two ends.


(Terrapin)
But the train's put it brakes on
(Terrapin)
And the whistle is screaming
Terrapin

It's right by a bend in the train tracks where the Light Rail slows... the train doesn't actually whistle, but it does put its brakes on

Plus, for the "civilians" among us, Maryland has a strong association with terrapins already.

And the turtles have already starting gathering for the Phil show tonight:

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Is that cool, or what?

 

It's beautiful thing!

Wow, that's amazing, Alan. Great work. Congratulations. People will enjoy this for years to come.

You've created an enduring piece that will launch imagination, and appreciation for nature. 

Beautiful, Alan!  Very well done. Thanks for the pictorial.

I dig your totem.

Way cool, Alan.

The Owl reminds me a bit of Gonzo in the close-up shot.

Thanks everyone. I just went out and tried to fix up a couple eyeballs -- the black had washed out -- but it is so cold I don't think the dyed epoxy will solidify. Have to go back when it is warmer.

And they originally had me located behind a fence they were going to tear down, but it ended up I got them to keep part of it up, so the sculpture has it's own little area right off the trail. That worked out ok.

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