Global Warming is a wonderful thing when it means working in your shirt sleeves in January. Makes it very hard to want to spend time in-doors catching up on this web site. If only all the effects might be so benign.

    The  intervening time between the last entry and this has been occupied by lots of good honest work getting the second and third legs into form. It's an interesting transformation for these rugged beams to begin to take on the attributes of elegance. A lot of inelegant noise, dirt and sweat goes into making that happen. I'm learning the dance of moving these weighty shapes pretty well at this point, always part of the learning curve with any sculpture of size - finding the balance points, making the rigging that will handle these unusual shapes.

                           

Up the first leg went, then look, see what needed changing, refining, think about position. I had it in my mind that the two front legs would attach at right angles to the first, but it immediately became apparent that the visual relationship became much more interesting when angled back. Down it came and back to the torch. When next it went up both legs would be ready.

    In the midst of this we went on a little diversionary creative jaunt. The first big drop from the first I-beam had left an interesting shape to work with. Rather than trying to find a place to store it, and since a project with some more immediate gratification needs to break up these long creative journeys from time to time, Leo came to be.

             

    Finally yesterday the three legs came together for the first time. Kind of a milestone to see the main structure of the base come together after so many months of belaboring this design in my mind's eye. It makes for a nice dramatic sweep of forms into space. There are several more refinements to make in the junction point itself - stiffening flanges to design and shape, the bench to incorporate below, the axle assembly to mount above. All in good time. For now, I am inspired by where we've come. Joy is in the journey, and this is a view to relish.