Posts Tagged ‘arts’
Carruth Studio’s “Beautiful Gardens 2010” Contest Winners
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
In June we launched a contest on the Carruth Studio Facebook fan page. The idea was to encourage our fans to post images of their gardens and how they used Carruth sculptures as accents or decorative elements. The “Beautiful Gardens 2010” contest has been popular and we have all enjoyed viewing each picture; admiring the flowers and plants and the creativity displayed in the use of my work.
We truly appreciate the feedback we receive from our customers and Facebook friends and fans. It has always been rewarding to see how people use my sculptures as gifts, expressions of sympathy, decorative elements–both inside and out–and as architectural installations. Our little contest produced some beautiful imagery. Thank you to everyone who participated. We’ll be doing another contest in the next few months and will ask you to submit images showing us all how you use your Carruth sculptures to decorate your rooms and offices.
The winner of our “Beautiful Gardens 2010 Contest is Carole Tannehill, whose creative use of the color blue around each of the plaques mounted on her garage was both impressive and visually pleasing. As the first place winner of our contest, Carol will receive a gift certificate for $200 worth of Carruth products. We look forward to seeing what she will do next!
My wife Deb was so impressed with some of the other entrants that she created additional awards and recognition for them. The second place winner of the “Beautiful Gardens 2010” contest is Pam Anderson for her beautiful photos of “Kindness Makes Friendship Blossom” and the “Hope Angel”. As the second place winner, Pam will receive a $50 gift certificate for Carruth products.
The third place winner is Chris Shannon for the artistic shot of “Ornithologist”: surrounded by grape vines. Chris will receive a gift certificate for $25 wort of Carruth products. And finally, we awarded an Honorable Mention to Nicole Heban for her Dad’s unforgettable photo of a chipmunk perched on the head of “Fairy of Lost Things”.
You can view all of the contest images on our fan page or on our Flickr channel. Tell us, which one was your favorite? Please share this post with your friends, and “like” it if you are active on Facebook!
Tags: "Beautiful Gardens 2010" contest, $200 gift certificate, artist, arts, Carruth Studio, client closing gifts for realtors, contest winners, garden art, Garden Smiles, George Carruth, George Carruth's blog, GeorgeCarruth.com, prizes
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Stone Carving of Saint Clare: the process continues…
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010
I’m working on a stone carving of Saint Clare of Assisi for a memorial garden. We have been documenting the project in order to share it with you since many of you are unfamiliar with stone carving. I started as a stone carver but now spend most of my time sculpting whimsical designs for the garden art we sell through Carruth Studio and our retail gallery, Garden Smiles.
It’s great to be carving again.
George Carruth making a hand tool for stone carving
A word about the tools I use during the carving process. I use a variety of tools including electric saws, pneumatic drills and hammers and many different types of hand tools. I tend to manufacture some of my hand tools because I have specific requirements for them.
After the stone has been prepared for carving, the next step is to develop a rough sketch of the carving. I use the sketch to think through which elements of the design must be carved first. As I carve back different things have to be carved out at different levels. For example the first thing that may need to be carved is the nose or the hand, which in this piece is stretched far away from the body. The sketch helps me clarify the spatial relationship of each element in the design and where it comes into play. After I have finalized the sketch I transfer it onto the stone.
George Carruth traces the sketch onto the stone.
At this point I begin to slowly take away the surface using pneumatic and hand tools. This step is usually a little unsettling because I’m trying to get a handle on how deep to carve. I know it all looks very shallow, but if too much is removed in an area, it totally affects the relationship of how everything else relates in space. Once the stone is removed, there is no magic tool that puts it back. The only option is to make everything deeper into the stone.
This might not sound like a big deal, but depending on how far along the carving has progressed, it all has to be re-sculpted at a deeper depth, face, hands and everything else.
The scene is of Saint Clare holding a monstrance in her right hand with her basilica in the background. As the carving unfolds, I’ll describe exactly what all of the images mean. Remember, this will have a rough medieval appearance. But until then, I’m just trying to put all of the elements in position at the correct depth. Saint Clare’s nose will be a little smaller when completed, but for now, a little extra stone is left on in case I accidentally bump it with a chisel while working on an adjacent area.
That’s all for today, but if you enjoyed this, check back in a few days to see how we are progressing. And again, if you liked this post please share it with your friends and networks. If you’d like to learn more about our company, visit our website or join us on Facebook and Twitter.
Thanks.
Tags: arts, Carruth Studio, carving, chisel, garden, garden art, Garden Smiles, George Carruth, hand tools, memorial, memorial gardens, plastic arts, saint, saint clare, saints, Sculptor George Carruth, sculpture, stone carver, stone carving, stones, the process, visual arts
Posted in George's Blog | 3 Comments »