My time in the eye of the stone has passed. Yesterday saw the final vertical pieces set in the Horse Eye sculpture. Phase One is complete except for two elements being carved by Chris Curtis of West Branch Gallery in Stowe, Vermont. They will be lowered into place at a later date, replacing the styrofoam mock-ups. The carved pieces will represent the “third eyelid.” The third eyelid of a horse is the lightning-fast flap that zips across from the inner corner to seal the eye shut against threat even before the lids can close. It's also the source of lubricating tears.

Stone Eye - Hot Horse Hide

Laboring in stone-craft is sweaty business even when the summer air temperature is moderate. Ramp the heat up to 95° F (35° C), add the radiant heat steaming off the stones, and I find myself working in a veritable, solar bake oven. The perspiration really starts to flow. Dust swirling around the site sticks to damp clothing and exposed skin. I look like a coal miner by the end of the day. I’m not complaining, though. Extreme heat is preferred over cold. My aging muscles and joints definitely perform better in summer weather.

ArtDan SnowJune 26, 2012featured, morrisville, sculpture, stone, stone eye, vermont

The Stone Eye - Nature All Around

While nature abounds all around I try to focus on the work at hand. The methodical labor of setting vertical stone to shape the sculpture requires a steady concentration. Each piece has to slot in between previously set stones, and has to be bedded in the crushed stone so that the top face aligns with the developing form. On the highest portions of the work, I measure the next space to be filled, climb down to find an appropriate stone, hammer shape it if necessary, and climb back up to set it.

The Stone Eye - Three Dry Stone Building Styles

Showers every day added up to 2” of precipitation and sloppy working conditions at the stone eye project this week. Safety glasses fogged and the mud sucked at my boots but I was glad to be outside making progress on the construction. The lead-sinker hanging guide-point system is proving to be very reliable and flexible. When I need to move a group of points out of the way to pitch stone into the center, I simply swing them up to the wire grid and hook them there temporarily. As I finish an area of stone work I unclip and remove the point lines.

ArtDan SnowMay 13, 2012dry stone, dry stone walling, morrisville, sculpture, stone, stone eye, vermont

Stone Eye Passage Roof Stones

A recent chance drive-by along Vermont Route 15 led to the discovery of Jeffersonville Quarry, and a way forward with the stone eye. In less than 36 hours, I’d sourced stone for vaulting the ceiling of the passage, ordered the pieces (which were quickly quarried out by Ken Gillilan) trucked them to the building site, and installed them.

ArtDan SnowMay 6, 2012jeffersonville quarry, morrisville, quarry, sculpture, stone, stone eye, vermont

Stone Eye, Hot and Dry

Clouds are banking in from the west, bringing the first significant precipitation to Vermont in months. April’s weather has felt positively ‘Southern Californian.’ Under intense sunshine, in powder dry conditions, I got started laying stone on the Stone Eye Project this past week.

ArtDan SnowApril 23, 2012morrisville, parallelepipeds, phylite, sculpture, stone, stone eye, vermont

Stone Eye Guiding Grid

Despite temperatures in the 20’s Fahrenheit and a steady north wind, progress continued this week on the stone eye sculpture. The guide frame and 6” grid are in place, waiting now for a day warm enough to allow bare fingers to function properly for hanging the lines and weights that will establish the ‘points in space’ needed to begin the stone construction.

Dan SnowDecember 21, 2011dry stone, grid, guide frame, installation, morrisville, project, stone, stone eye, vermont

Stone Eye Sculpture Site Preparations

On site in Morrisville, I outlined the piece with sticks and ribbon to get a sense of its presence on the land, began excavation and finished the foundation work. The stonework will rest on a 3’ deep base of crushed stone. When completed, the sculpture will enclose two burial plots. The addition of a sand-filled,wood coffer will allow the second grave to be easily hand-dug at a future date.

Dan SnowDecember 15, 2011installation, morrisville, sculpture, site preparation, stone, stone eye, vermont

A Stone Eye

Today I’m transferring information from 60 pages of data onto a master plan for the stone-eye construction. Corner points in a grid of 6” squares are given numerical values that correspond to their position on the surface of the sculpture. The 32’ diameter sculpture will require more than 3,000 points-in-space to guide the construction.

Dan SnowDecember 4, 2011metamorphic rock, model, morrisville, phyllite, project, quartzite, sculpture, stone, stone eye, stone supply, vermont

Points in Space

Every new idea leads to an adventure. In the past when I’ve wanted to record and transfer “points-in-space” from a clay model to a full scale construction I’ve made a grid-style guide frame and physically measured the distance from the frame to the surface of the model. To build the horse eye sculpture I will need thousands of measurements on a 6”x6” grid. My new idea was to find someone who could digitally scan the model for the measurements I would need.

Dan SnowDecember 1, 20113-D scan, model, morrisville, new hampshire, project, sculpture, stone eye, vermont

Disturbing the Silence

My next project is a piece of figurative sculpture in the landscape. It’s an art piece and a piece of utility. The dry stone construction will enclose a burial site on private property in north-central Vermont. A former horse pasture will be the site of a memorial in the shape of a horse’s eye. In phase 1, the shape will be open to the grave plots. In phase 2, to be completed at an unknown time in the future, the central portion will be covered over with a dry stone mound that will represent the iris of the eye. Completed, the crypt will be sealed by the polished pupil of a heavenward-gazing eye.

Dan SnowNovember 27, 2011art, environmental art, figurative sculpture, model, nature, outdoor art, poetry, project, sculpture, stone, stone eye, vermont, wendell berry