My project for semester 2 was to sculpt a model of the Wherry from a piece of marble, and then carve a woman's body in the top of it to add the delicate features of a woman into the similar shape of a boat. These objects together complement each other greatly because they share similar features, like the overall shape, which makes the object seem so dainty and petite against the wild untamed world. They seem to flow on with such ease, as if they were trying to cover up the true beauty of the figure to look more masculine.

I started out with one big chunk of marble, and then cut a reasonably sized piece out of it so I would be able to draw out where I planned for the boat to begin and end. I used a model of a Dory to get the overall shape, and spent a lot of time making it resemble the dory. My next step was to transform the boat into a Wherry, which sounds easy but was a big time consuming process of measuring the actual boat and making a scaled version of this to draw on to the boat so I could then fix the shape.

I had to use a grinder, a die grinder and a lot of different power tools. This presented a problem because they were 1) extremely heavy 2) I was afraid that I was going to cut off my arm, and 3) there was no way that I was going to take these things home because I was afraid to use them alone.

A lot of time passed and the sculpture did not change far.

Most of the work that was not too detailed was done with a hammer and a chisel. Then I used a diamond blade on a drill to cut off the excess marble. Using sandpaper on the sides helped smooth out the rough spots where it had chipped unevenly.

I spent three quarters on this project, and will be the first to admit that I got very discouraged, and basically gave up on the marble and on my artistic abilities. Patience does not come easily to me; I get an assignment and I do it then right on the spot. To have to take time on each of the steps, and to be unable to get it done in a rush, like I do most things, was very hard for me.
After many long hours of class and working on the project at home, I came to what I thought would be the easy part and boy-oh-boy was I wrong. I started to carve the breasts and it was very painful, detailed work, as I am so clumsy. Things would chip for me, but of course not for Mr. Taylor. This was aggravating also.

I moved along to do the stomach and did some more detail work to the legs that Mr. Taylor started for me. To be honest, if Mr. Taylor hadn't started up again and motivated me, we would not have had a boat at all. This is not just mine, it is both of ours, because he helped me, showed me what to do, and had faith in me when I did not.

My biggest failure in the project was the final project. I was unaware of how much time this would take me, and I feel that I have let the people who helped me down, especially Mr. Taylor.

I want to dedicate this boat to Mr. Taylor, and I will title this sculpture FAITH. As my senior year comes to an end and my sculpture comes to something of a closure I want to thank all of the people who took interest in my art and my ideas which most of the time were so complex and "far fetched" I could barely understand myself.