Alabaster outside

[Biomorph]

I would like to place a piece made in soft, translucent white alabster outside for the summer. I know it will degrade, but posterity will have to suffer to accomodate the present. Any suggestions on protecting from the elements and preserving a part polished and part mat finish as far as possible?

[RuBert]

This is really a stone that you do not want to display outside. It does not stand up to the weather outside very well at all.

In general Alabaster is a low-maintenance material. Florida scope maker Ben Ansley advises you not to use water to clean it. Just keep it dusted with a soft, dry cloth and give it a once-over with Pledge every five years or so.

Aside from that I have heard of using tree wax or linseed oil but your best bet is to keep it indoors.

[dondougan]

Biomorph -

As a self-taught stone sculptor I have to say you gotta do what you gotta do . . . and let the consequences fall where they may.

As you seem to be aware of the pitfalls of using alabaster out-of-doors, I would say to just wax it as often as possible during the exhibit. If this option is not worth the trouble, you could try coating it with an exterior polyurethane varnish. However, getting the polyurethane off the alabaster later will be a horrible job, and might damage the surfaces of the stone more than the weather would. Unfortunately, the polyurethanes that are made for exterior use tend to yellow. You can buy acrylic finishes that don't yellow, but they are not as durable in the weather.

My feelings about my own work (mostly marble and limestone, but sometimes wood or alabaster) are that I avoid outdoor conditions and the damage they might cause whenever possible, but sometimes the advantage of the show is worth the damage to the piece - it will never be the same!

Sometimes I think we as artists forget the purpose of the art. It is to communicate. In many cultures the art was not ART but a symbol for something else. The art that was made had an expected life span -- when it's purpose was served, it was discarded and when something similar was needed it was made again.

If you want to communicate with the here-and-now do what you need to do and don't worry about the life of your work for posterity. Everything turns to dust eventually, and you are just hastening the process by showing it outdoors.

Hey - take lots of pictures beforehand so you can document the way it was. Like I said before, it will never be the same.

Don Dougan

I

[Judy Robins]

Where do yo live that you can place alabaster outside? I know in Chicago it wouldn't last six months due to the extreme weather. And it is so-oo soft? Whatever protection you may put on it anyone could damage it with their finger nails or something? Can you put it in a plastic case? (I realize I may be a bit late to join this conversation but here I am). Judy Robins

[dondougan]

Judy;

Yes, it is so-oo soft . . . and Yes, whatever protection might be put on it could be damaged intentionally with fingernails, but it is usually rings that are the worst culprits.

A plastic case it certainly a possibility -- but then the case becomes part of the aesthetic statement of the work (not necessarily a bad thing, but a point to remember).

As far as my own work goes, I live in Atlanta, Georgia. Alabaster for me is an occasional material, but one of the things I do is use alabaster for is its weathering.
The natural weathering of alabaster is sometimes one element in a sculpture that is patiently worked over a span of a couple of years or more.
Before the sculpture is 'finished' I leave the alabaster on top of my rock-pile just outside the studio. After about a year in our climate the rain has removed about one-eighth of an inch from the surface of the alabaster -- surface tool marks from the chisels are gradually dissolved (though deep bruises will take more than a year). The richly textured surface on the dissolved alabaster is almost unobtainable in any other fashion, and different types of alabaster (depending on impurities) will create varied textures.

After it has weathered to a state I like, I carefully cut and work the stone to retain the weathered surface area, and usually fit it into a larger work made with limestone or marble, and often mixed as a counterpoint with bronze or glass elements.

After it is finished, I do not place the work outdoors any further -- it is an indoor piece.


Good Carving to You - Don
www.dondougan.com

[Judy Robins]

Dondouogan, I like your technique of Mother Nature being the sculptor! I bet the alabaster does get some interesting tectures from the weather. I understand Georgia has some marble quarries, do you use this marble as well? Is it Georgia alabaster? Is it nice stone for carving? I general use marble from Italy or Colorado, but I find that the Colorado white gets somewhat sugary and doesn't hold the edge as well for detail carving as the Italian, although it is beautiful. I also use the Indiana limestone, which is very nice to carve. What size do you work in? I work from table top to 10 feet outdoor stuff. Judy

[Daniel]

This is a little off-topic, but I was wondering what wax you stone sculptors use. I carved a few alabaster pieces a number of years ago, and used Goddards paste wax for marble. That was great stuff, but it seems that they have discontinued this item. Do any of you know of a comparable wax?
thanks

[dondougan]

Daniel,

Goddards is/was OK (I still have some left from a tin I bought about 20 years ago), but I rarely use it as the added perfume (that made it expensive along with that pretty package)just doesn't add that much for me <grin>.
Any clear paste wax will work about the same -- in small quantities Kiwi neutral shoe polish is my first choice, but Trewax clear paste wax also works, as does Butcher's. If your stone is dark, regular Johnson's or Minwax (yellow) paste waxes are fine -- just not on light colored stones unless you want that yellowish cast.
There are also water-clear liquid stone polishes sold by the big stone specialty suppliers, such as Akemi and Tenax. They have optical 'color-enhancing' properties that regular paste wax doesn't, but they cost considerably more too. They are especially good on deep-colored stones.

Don
www.dondougan.com

[dondougan]

Hi Judy,

Sorry for the delayed reply -- this was a long-ago post!

The alabaster I use is just the odd chunk I have been given or a student left behind, etc. Most of my work is marble & limestone. Georgia has no alabaster that I'm aware of. And the pieces I leave outside are intentionally done so specifically to achieve that texture, but I have done repairs on antique 19th century carvings that somebody foolishly left out on their patio.

Yes I use Georgia marble. It is a great stone for placing outdoors, but not so good for smaller than life size detail on representational forms (crystalline structure too large).

Italy, Colorado, white, Indiana limestone, all are nice to carve IMO. I also use Tennessee, Vermont, or anything I can get my hands on <grin>. Table top to seven feet for a single chunk of stone is my range, though I have done some multi-element pieces that run along twenty some feet of wall. About half of my output is mixed-media on stone wall sculpture .

Sorry about the slow reply . . .

Don
www.dondougan.com

[tonofelephant]

Don,

I know I am almost finished with a piece when I break out the Goddards Wax. That "sweet perfume" as you called it is heavenly. Looking forward to breaking out the sweet perfumed wax on Friday. Looking forward to that.

Carl
www.wsggallery.com

[dondougan]

Carl,

Whatever works is my motto. I used to polish my pieces to the ultimate, but then I realized that I liked the variety of unpolished areas near polished areas, textured near smooth, and that each type of finish (even just different types of waxes) each left distinctive visual and tactile surfaces.

My vocabulary of 'effects' is constantly being enlarged, and consequently I find the sculptures can evoke much broader ranges of expression by not always using the same finishing technique. A confession: sometimes I even slap paint on the stone -- shhh!

My general feeling about Goddard's is that it is marketed to the owner of fine marble-topped furniture (antique and new) -- for which is admirably well-suited. It works great for traditional polished stone sculpture too. I just don't do too much 'traditional' stuff . . . <grin>

But I know what you feel like when it comes time to apply the finish -- it is a great feeling to have 'chalked-up' another one in the 'win' column. Even the really good ones though never seem to end-up quite as good as they seemed like they might when I began them. That elusive (definitive) 'masterpiece' is still around the corner for me. Glass half full, I guess. Maybe the next one will be IT.

You gonna post images of the newly finished piece?

Don

www.dondougan.com

[Blacksun]

The sculptor that I learned from and worked with for several years (Ralph Hurst, FSU Prof. of Art Educ), intentionally left a large italian alabaster sculpture, unprotected and neglected, outside on his patio for about 10 years......it continued to degrade over the years, eventually completely unrecognizable as the original subject, but with it's own beauty: deep rain rivulets and chasms, natural staining from the organic matter that dropped on it (like mulberrys and mulberry laced bird poo...). It was one of my favorites.... It was probably 100 pounds in the original carving, and probably weighed a very lacey 20 when I last saw it (about 5 years before he passed away). Short term outdoor exposure in a temperate climate with a good original coat of wax with regular cleaning & waxing and you probably won't have any major degradation....a good refinishing at the end of the summer and it should be okay.... No guarantees, but worth the risk.... Of course, I have no experience to back that up....I like my stuff too well to leave it outside........:)