John Mooy’s raven soon to be carved in Porturo black marble.
by John Mooy
The Corvid family is the group of birds we have come to know that include ravens, crows, magpies and jays. They are inquisitive and curious birds. My particular interest is with crows and ravens. This in part due to their level of intelligence. These two birds have been the center of many stories that leave us scratching our heads and saying, “did they really do that?”
Several years ago, I was working on a commission piece for a lady in Denver. She had requested that I carve two crows for her. I agreed and selected two pieces of Belgian black marble which when the pieces had been rendered as birds I would polish to a beautiful finish.
At the time I worked on the birds, my work bench was an old run-down picnic table. But what happened as I worked on these pieces became rather intriguing to me. As the birds began to take shape and become easily recognizable as two crows, there were crows that were beginning to gather on the tree branches not far from where I was working. They would sit for extended periods of time seemingly interested in what I was doing.
As I completed each sculpture and began to apply the polish these crows seemed to develop an even sharper sense of interest. And then came the day I packed each sculpture into the wooden boxes I had made in preparation for shipping. Not only did the crows I carved leave, so did those that observed me through the process. It was almost as if their friends had left the neighborhood.
So now I am working on another member of the corvid family, a raven. The stone I have chosen for the subject is Porturo black marble from Italy. It is getting more difficult to get this particular stone in part due to its beauty. There is a gold-colored mineral that runs throughout the stone which is absolutely stunning when polished.
My piece of stone weighed in initially at roughly two hundred seventy pounds. As I believe I have mentioned in previous columns, once the subject is determined you follow the guidelines left to the art world by Michelangelo over seven hundred years ago. I’m paraphrasing but what he said was, “Imagine what’s in the stone and then take away everything that isn’t part of that.”
So, first, I drew a general shape of the raven on the stone and began to take away everything that was outside the subject of the raven. The further you get into a piece the smaller the tools become. From saw, hammer and chisel to large rasps, then small rasps and finally a large amount of sandpaper, both regular paper and then wet and dry sandpaper. The grits start out very coarse and run to very fine grits.
Once you put the eyes in a bird, you have given it life and personality. And if you’re lucky, when you look at the bird, the pose gives it an attitude. I think I’ve achieved that in this raven. In some Native American lore, the raven is known as “the trickster.” The raven especially is held in high esteem and often found on the top of a totem pole.
Closer to Marcellus I have a crow story that I’ll never forget. You may have heard me tell the story before. When my dad passed away for seven straight days at exactly 4:20 in the afternoon a crow came to our house and landed on the steel railing outside the back door. The crow did this for seven straight days and after the seventh day he never returned. I called my cousin in Seattle who is an expert in the field of ornithology. I explained the situation and asked him what he made of this crow. Without hesitation he said, “I think the crow was simply letting you know that everything was okay.” I took several pictures of the crow and it represents good thoughts for me.
I mention to you that my cousin also roamed the woods and explored the rivers around Marcellus.
Marcellus is the birthplace of so many of my stories. And you can say the same thing.
Enjoy the day.
Have a great week, Marcellus.
You’re the best.
I have a craven to get to work on the raven.
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