![]() It was then that Louise Dahl-Wolfe, a New York photographer for Harper's Bazaar, saw his works while visiting friends in Nashville. The limestone carvings of William Edmondson were virtually unknown beyond his neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee, until 1936. Fuller, Visions in Stone: The Sculpture of William Edmondson(Pittsburgh: The University of Pittsburgh Press, 1973), 12, 22. He ain't never said nothing about pay for it." -William Edmondson quoted in Edmond L. You see, I got to do these things for my heavenly daddy whether folks buy them or not. A preacher don't hardly get up in the pulpit but he don't preach some picture I got carved. I didn't know I was no artist till them folks come tole me I was. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of American Art) Lynda Roscoe Hartigan African-American Art: 19th and 20th-Century Selections (brochure. Unaware of this development, he relied on divine calling and instruction, affirming his ties with other African Americans whose spirituality has provided the impetus for their art, music, and literature. Compact and stylized, the sculpture conveys its spiritual message with the authority and immediacy of an archaic monument.Įdmondson's work coincided with the revival of direct carving in stone during the 1930s. ![]() ![]() Only the emphatic curves of the lower torso reveal Edmondson's attempt to break away from the block, suggesting that he executed Crucifixion soon after he turned from carving gravestones to more imaginative, free-standing subjects. Crucifixion retains a strong sense of the block's shape and texture in its minimally articulated form and detail. Its rectangular silhouette and upright frontality suggest the gravestone tablets that Edmondson saw in his original vision. The museum's example is an early version, once also called Baby Jesus. In several sculptures entitled Crucifixion, Edmondson celebrated Christ as the Savior, the most popular figure in the spiritual tradition of African-American art. Animals, biblical subjects, and secular figures like Eleanor Roosevelt and Nashville school teachers dominated his repertoire. Inspired by a vision, he emphasized his divine calling, claiming, "Jesus has planted the seed of carving in me" and describing his works as "mirkels." Edmondson carved gravestones, free-standing figurative sculpture, and garden ornaments, using discarded blocks of limestone and chisels fashioned from railroad spikes. I dug up a close matching piece of spring, cut it to length (cut disc), beveled both pieces top and bottom.tacked to double check alignment, then, ran a root on each side, checked alignment again, the, did multiple passes to fill.wire brushed (hand brush worked fine) after each pass.William Edmondson, son of Tennessee slaves, did not consider himself an artist when he began carving around 1932, after retiring from his job as a laborer. It had broken off about 6" at some point. ![]() To date the thickest I've done with that little guy is a 1/4" thick by about 2 1/2" wide truck leaf spring rocker on an old porch chair. OK? I feel confident my 125 will do a great job, but we'll see! I'll use the "drop it in a concrete floor" test, then report the results. If I have a chance tomorrow, I'll go out, pick a rusty spike, touch the rust off in a spot, and tack on a piece of coat hanger, and then welding rod with my 125EZ.then we'll see if it works or not. Craig is talking about welding some wire (probably 1/8" or less) to spikes.not welding spikes together. ![]()
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