Monday, December 7, 2009

Carving the Christmas Lamb (Taglio il Agnello di Natale)

This weekend, I thought it would be nice to carve a marble relief of a sheep, since a parent of some neighborhood friends really likes sheep. By like, I mean this lady completely loves sheep to an obsessive and freakish level with sheep images all around her house (not the kind of obsessive and freakish love that people who are making fun of citizens of Arkansas reference).














The carving still needs a bit of clean-up, particularly around the hindquarters, but it looks like it will be ready in time to be a Christmas gift. I was thinking of including a note with it like 'Bah-aahhaaahhh Humbug' or maybe '...ohhh this was a white *elephant* party'.

Speaking of sacrificial lambs, I feel sorry for all the Nebraska college football fans whose team was completely dominated the entire game by the University of Texas team this weekend. It wasn't even close as the kicker made a 46 yard field goal to ensure a healthy 8.3% point total lead to win the game. Nebraska had 12 points.

20 comments:

  1. That's a beautiful carving - you sure are an awesome neighbor! My neighbor likes to steal my newspaper and cook things that make the entire building smell like ass right before I have guests over.

    But if YOU were my neighbor, I'd be inspired to buy a new piece from you every week. Right after I shagged ya rotten baby yeah! ;)

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  2. Awwww, what a cute little lamb! What a good neighbor you are to indulge her freakish obsession.

    PS - As an Italophile, what do you think of panettone? I think it is horrible and dry but then I don't drink coffee, which probably helps wash it down.

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  3. Awwwwww ewe did good.. what a softie you are ;). No kidding either! :D It's a very nice gift, no matter which lines you include, no doubt she'll love it!

    Texas.. Nebraska.. HUH? lololol...

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  4. I hope she's not illegally obsessed with sheep. You know, like that guy in SC with the horse...

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  5. Is the sheep taking a dump?

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  6. Katrocket,
    Thanks! Your neighbor sounds like a tool.
    Sounds like a plan then, I'll bring my hammer and chisels. They have quite a bit of nice stone up there I hear. :)

    Soda and Candy,
    Thanks, I was worried about being a sheep enabler.

    Toni James,
    Haha! Excellent pun-work there... and thanks, you are such a great artist the compliment means so much.
    Huh? Do you mean that you don't religiously follow college football these days, or do you mean 'Huh, why did they play so poorly?' :)
    I'm inclined to agree with the latter.

    Otherworldlyone,
    Not illegaly obsessed, it's more of a decorating thing, which combined with barnyard animals probably should be illegal.

    Mo,
    Why yes, it's taking a tail-shaped dump. It's all quite an amazing coincidence because this particular sheep has no tail, so the dump part just kind of works out ok.

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  7. Great Christmas gift. But be careful that the lady doesn't get obsessive and freakish over you. Maybe one marble relief is not enough for her. Just saying.

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  8. That is beautiful! You are really multi-talented!

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  9. That is so cute! She's going to love it!
    You carve marble? WOW!!

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  10. Cute sheep! My favorite beanie baby (long long time ago) was the sheep! I loved it, they were so cute and white and fluffy...

    I love to eat lamb. kind of like a sheep.

    Is the University of Texas team...the one that is DOMINATING in the Big 12?? the team that had the extra second put on the clock at the end of the game to win it? same Texas?
    if so...totally not a fan...unless they are playing OU.

    ;o)

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  11. Dutch Donut Girl,
    No worries, other than that she's pretty normal.

    Lidian,
    Thanks! I still have some small adjustments to make, but I was excited it went so fast since I was just freehand carving it into the stone.

    Heather,
    Thanks, I think it will go over ok. I like all things sculpture related, now if I could only paint and draw really well.

    Lopez,
    Thanks, and I never understood the beanie baby phenomenon...
    Yes, the same team. Can you believe that last second thing? They messed it up at halftime the same way too. I was going to be really perturbed if the exact same error at the end of the game cost them the 'W'...

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  12. Over Thanksgiving, my friend got into a huge argument with his brother-in-law over who had the right to carve the turkey. This has nothing to do with the post but the word "carving" is excuse enough, no?

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  13. Hahaha! Definitely Baaahh Humbug. Nice job!

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  14. wow. i love the sheepy! you win the best neighbor ever award!

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  15. Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa humbug.

    Awesome!

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  16. Oh, I LOVE it. My real name means "little lamb"... hence my blog header. ;-)

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  17. WendyB,
    Yes it is enough, but there were no swear words* in it.

    *Wendy won the Drysdale Award for most swear words, which doesn't make sense to me.

    Nikki,
    Thanks!

    MyLittleBecky,
    Thanks, it looks better now that I've had time to do some 'cleanup' on it.

    Heather Cherry,
    I think I'll go with that one.

    LiLu,
    You have permission to photoshop my lamb carving into your header for a month then.

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  18. You've gotten soooo lazy with the blogging since you've been back. I'm thinking of a punishment.

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  19. I love reading about your projects. I'm incredibly jealous.

    Also, I have received a torch. I am apparently embarking on a lampworking adventure. Is it possible to glue your fingers together with molten glass? Please advise.

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  20. Otherworldlyone,
    Yeah a bit, punishment???

    Vic,
    You have an oxy-acetolene torch? I'm jealous now. You can only glue your fingers together with molten glass if your fingers are also made of glass, I think. I'll try it to make sure.

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