• Flying buttress figurine: The Idleness

    Eusebius, Restoration

    Acedia

    first stage of rough carving The Idleness

    The next flying buttress figurine from arc no. 24 of St. Eusebius's Church in Arnhem wasn't entirely clear to me. We've seen all seven sins pass by, except Sloth, sometimes called idleness, laziness or inertia, so this one had to be it.

    To the first message about this flying buttress.

    Idleness

    next stage in carving flying buttress figurine The Idleness

    I just don't know how the sculptor had originally intended this. I also thought at first that this one was Pride, or Hubris, a lady with voluptuous bosom that sits high on horseback. Or maybe it should depict a donkey?

    Dolce Far Niente

    flying buttress figurine Idleness completed

    Maybe this lady portrays the lack of direction of a bored rich lady, spending her days with useless things and letting the workhorses do the work? "Idleness is the devil's earcushion,’ as an old saying goes, though I always thought they meant you really had to be flexible if you wanted to give the devil a kiss on his ear. This lady is in any case sufficiently limber!

    However it may be, I just copied the sculpture as it was. While working I noticed that not only the breasts threatened to fall overboardfrom her gown, but even the nipples are in focus. "It's must be feeding time again', commented my mate Stide. 'How so??’ I asked.
    ‘Well,’ he said, 'The piglets are already looking over the trough!’

    Structure

    flying buttress figurine Idleness completed

    The old sculpture had a heavily weathered surface, but I noticed something that hinted the sculptor had carved something of a structure and had made the suggestion of a thick woolen dress. I tried to imitate that by first bush hammering, horse and dress and carving short, shallow lines into the dress with a pointed chisel, resulting in a lively surface.

    Dog-Latin

    sculpture The Envy -presawing
    presawing Envy, step 2

    In a previous post on this flying buttressI told you about the theme that these sculptures convey: the seven deadly sins. Each figurine we have carved so far (and Jelle has made three out of these seven) has been given a Latin name in the profile on the side: Superbia for Vanity, Gula for Gluttony, Ira for Rage, Avaritia for Greed, This Laziness or Idleness is called Acedia, and then later Stide will be adding Luxuria for Lust and Invidia for Envy. Which are both on their way as well.

    A mysogynous sculptor?

    sculpture The Envy -presawing
    presawing Envy- step 3

    Some ladies noted that women come down quite badly in this series, because actually only the Fury is a male. This went against their sense of justice and some of them therefore ascribed a very negative view of women to the original sculptor.

    But even in the next series, which should represent the seven Virtues, the majority is shown as female as well. The conclusion is clear: Eduard van Kuilenburg, who carved almost all of the flying buttress figurines in the 1950s , had no trouble with women. On the contrary: he would rather carve images of women than men. That would explain why there are so many women among these sculptures.

    Measuring up

    carving the profiles on Idleness
    The profile leans 5 degrees to the left with respect to the wall face, and 61 degrees downwards

    Because with the previous flying buttresses often the topmost sculpture didn't fit quite right inside the surrounding wall surface, I especially went to St. Eusebius's church along with Remon Theissen from Slotboom Stonemasons to measure the position of the arch in relation to the church. Such a visit to the church is always a wonderful opportunity to consider the work of recent times. And again it was clear to me how much skill is invested in this restoration. The finished part looks awesome, and our previous flying buttress figurines with the trumpet angels, wise maidens, foolish maidens and crippleds from the Beatitudes fit right in.

    flying buttresses Eusebius's church, south side
    flying buttresses Eusebius's church, south side
    flying buttresses Eusebius's church, south side
    flying buttresses Eusebius's church, south side
    flying buttresses Eusebius's church, south side

    to the next flying buttress statue

  • A boulder with house numbers

    Latest projects

    I recently received a request if it was possible to make a boulder with house numbers. Of course that's possible! So I went to a garden materials center and bought a heavy boulder of about a meter wide. It could just fit in the back of my little van, because it weighs over 400 kilos. Having a collision would become a problem at that weight. Had it been any heavier, I would have transported it by truck.

    boulder with house number- rough stone

    I would carve the house numbers 1-3-5 in it, for a group home for young people with a minor intellectual disability. Therefore, I chose a lively font. The boulder consists of red granite, probably a kind of Multicolour Red. But a boulder is not the same quality as found in the natural stone trade. You always need to find out if there aren't any cracks deeper inside.

    boulder with house number- polished the surface of the numbers

    Polishing

    I started polishing the place where the numbers will will come. Once I'll lower the surface of the stone surrounding them, I will end up with raised letters or numbers. If I just carve the house numbers into the stone, then they will become recessed letters/numbers.

    The tricky part here is the surface of the stone. It was formed by nature, so it's irregular. If it's wet, then it will be darker and when the weather is dry lighter. That means that in wet weather the polished surface of the figures disappears against the background. In dry weather it's easily readable.

    boulder with house number- paper figures pasted onto it

    Pasting and carving

    The group home has the house numbers 1, 3 and 5. They share one common entrance. The stone will be located at the entrance and so will have all three house numbers. Now the house numbers are still on a sheet of paper behind a window, but because the group home is situated in boulder puller's town Amersfoort, it's a much better idea represent them on a boulder.

    boulder with house number- started carving the husinummers

    I had printed out the figures at 21 cm tall on paper and pasted them onto the stone. Now I could carve the numbers right through the paper into the stone . After that I just had to bring the surrounding stone down until the numbers protruded almost 2 cm above it. Red granite is quite hard, but it all went pretty easily; the stone had almost no faults.

    Bushhammering chisel for natural stone

    Lowering the background

    When all the contours were carved, the stone in between them had to be lowered still. That's easily done with a bush hammer, a kind of blocky chisel with pyramid-shaped points. This crushes the stone surface, leaving behind a rough skin.

    boulder with house number- bushhammered the surface

    After several years of weathering you will notice that the stone has become one a single entity, with its letters clearly contrasting. Now the bush hammered spots are still a bit lighter, but that will, over time, merge into one another seamlessly.

    To finish it closer to the original surface of the stone I then followed with a rotating wire brush and brushed off all sharp bits.

    boulder with house number- house numbers finished

    Gilding or not?

    Unfortunately, it appears that in wet weather everything gets the same color. So was thinking of a solution for this. I thought of painting or gilding. Once the polished surface of the figures is gold plated, even during rain or dusk they will clearly stand out. But we are not yet certain whether that fits in with the informal nature of the group home. I will soon install the boulder and then we'll see whether one day an alteration should be made.

    This was a small (pro Deo-) job in between other things. Now I've learnt something new: how to make a boulder with house numbers. It's not a sculpture and letter carving's not something I do very often, but this was certainly just fun to do. I like working in granite, it's a robust material. I'll post pictures of installing it next week, and an update about the final finish and, still, painting.

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