A progress and weather report- we are racing and worrying about warm weather.

Once the foam tiger was raised on the rocks
we had to work on scaffolding to reach the
shoulders. And remember we are not using the
first 3 feet of the rock.  

James,  intern and I  both examine how to mount
the armature for the sculpture. There is a lot of weight. 

I'm paying close attention to the weather report these days. In Houston it is always hotter than it appears in the weather report. Some say that is because of our humidity. I must tell you, being in a metal warehouse with no AC it is even hotter.  Yesterday, as we worked on the clay, we did not even need a torch to make it malleable   That makes me a bit worried. I'm glad the tiger is swinging from the winch instead of up in the hottest part of the warehouse. This will soon change. We need to put the tiger back up for approval. We are working diligently to get an approval of the sculpture as soon as possible. Once it is up in the air it is best if it does not have to stay there long.  We hope to have approval this week. Then we can take apart the pieces and bring some of them back to my air conditioned studio to get them ready for the foundry. 

See the photographs for a recap of what we have done this last week.

Our goal this week:
1. To finish the stripes- Monday
2. To put the sculpted tiger back on the rocks- Tuesday
3. To secure the lower armature - Tuesday
4. Check over all details-Monday- Tuesday
5. Take pictures and receive approval for the next step. Wed- Friday.

Looking closely this looks more like a map showing
winds and the jet stream. It is not. It is to help the interns
know how the hair grows.  The clay will be put on using
these directions. 

You don't know it but it is thundering and lightening
at the taking of this picture. I was wondering... I'm in a metal
building, on a metal scaffolding
 holding a metal hoist, this can't be smart. 

What goes up must come down.
We bring the sculpture down to see how the
head and front paw look and to make it easier
to sculpt. 

Looking at it hanging there it looks like it is flying. 

James and I add clay to the torso. 

Stripes are an important element of a tiger. 

The tiger hangs-  kind of floating in mid air. 

It is a little unnerving having such a heavy
structure hanging over your head while you work. While under
the massive beast you do get used to it. It is,
however, much easier to work on it down on the ground,
 instead of  on scaffolding or while climbing over rocks.