The Care Giver and Patient, the central elements of "Cor Liberum"
As I continue to march towards the installation date of February 26th for my Norton Hospital commission "Cor Liberum", it feels good to be in a place where I am confident I will be ready. Back in November, I was very stressed out as I was not on schedule to be able to complete the sculpture on time. The large figure (the Care Giver) was carved and standing up. However, the small figure (the patient) was not even close to being done. Also, at that point, I had one bird complete and sanded but without the mounting collar attached. I did have a good start on all of the rest of the birds, but none of them had seen a sander at that point.
Since then, I have finished carving the small figure and I received help from fellow Louisville artists, Karen Terhune and Chris Mozier. They spent a lot of time sanding and refining of the central figures. I have made great progress on the sanding of the birds and am fitting their mounting collars. This has gone a lot faster than I thought. It has been a non-stop process, but I am nearing the end.
These are the stainless steel posts that the birds will be sitting on.
This past Thursday, representatives from Norton Hospital came out to do a studio visit. They were very happy with the work. I asked them if it was what they were expecting, and they said it absolutely was. They said it look just like the model! It is most important that I like my work, but it sure helps when the folks that are paying for it like it!
There is still a lot of coordination work that needs to happen over the next month. The concrete is sill to be poured, the sculptures still need to be totally finished and delivered, and the installation crew still has their work to do. But, I feel like the bulk of the work is behind me.
Wish me luck the week of February 26th as there will be a lot of work that has to get done in those 5 short days to complete the sculpture.