Today (yesterday now) I went to the Boneyard of Continental Cut Stone in Florence, Texas, to pick up a specifically cut piece of Cordova Crème limestone for my latest commission. It was unusually cold and windy. I guess the Fall Equinox did not wish to arrive unnoticed. And it was raining most of the morning, which is wonderful. Since sculpting was not likely to happen, it was a good day for me to run this errand and hope for a less-wet tomorrow.
The stone quarry is actually several hours away from Florence. The Boneyard is where the stone is cut for use by sculptors, but mostly contractors and builders. It is not unusual for natural stone to either not meet the specs of certain construction projects (holes/embedded shells/distracting grain lines) or get broken or cut wrong. In these cases, the less-than-perfect stone is set out in the Boneyard for people like me. I love searching there for unusual shapes and architectural treasures that I can use as a starting point for a stone carving.
I wanted to share a few images I snapped off today as I walked around the Boneyard. The last time I was here was when I met my friend Vasily Fedorouk on the access road of the IH-35 turnoff to Florence. He had just driven down from Chicago to teach a workshop at my place. We went “shopping” together to pick out the limestone we would supply our students. It was a fun day.
The purple thistle that you see here is an unusual variety (to me anyway). I found the purple and grey combination to be a bit irresistible today.
And to my delight, I saw this large yellow moth on a pile of cut stone tiles. Their bodies are bigger than locusts! Because I tend to leave open all the doors and windows of my home and studio for as long as I can every day, I often see a brown moth enter my kitchen and studio this time of year. But I had yet to see an obviously yellow one. I included my hand in the image so that you can clearly make out his size. Cool huh?
I also saw some pink limestone. It reminded me of someone’s strawberry poundcake. I was tempted to bite into it, but I generally do not prefer the taste of limestone. Too bad all I saw were these tiles and blocks too large for me to carry home on this day. But, hmmmm, it was a curious and yummy sight!
4 comments:
When I read that the quarry was several hours away from Florence, I wondered if you were back in Italy. Then I reread the first paragraph: Florence, Texas. Ah so. Do you suppose the place was named after the city in Italy, or after Flo from the 70s sitcom Alice? ;-)
That moth is big. Texas big.
I have never seen a moth that big! Great photos.
Nice photos and story. :) Big moth!!
Hi Andrew, I have no idea where the Texas Florence name came from, but there are several stone supply places there, so maybe they wanted something exotically Italian and "Carrara, Texas," was just too exotic sounding. :-)
Yeah, I should have photographed the big brown moth who likes the inside of my home. So cool . . .
Thanks, all.
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