Bats! Incredible Project for the City of Cincinnati~

So far I have completed 3 out of 5 sculptures commissioned- Slice of America, Ballberry Tree, Batting Terminal, Heart,, and Fly Ball

You're also welcome to check out their listings on the BatsIncredible! site at Pie, Tree, BattingT, Heart, and Fly.

This piece was sponsored by James E. Evans, and now lives on 312 Walnut Street.

Where it all began...

This project is a part of a citywide celebration for the opening of Cincinnati's new baseball stadium. More detail can be found at the Bats!Incredible site.

I brought in my friend Jeremy, a partner-in-pie for this project to help me with the construction. This is his work in the image below.

Jeremy designed the internal framework using wood and screws, attaching the bats in a slight curve along the outside wall to serve as our 'crust'.

(HomeDepot became our second residence, to the dismay of its staff~)

Next step~ a trip to Global Manufacturing Co. (What an amazing place!) Foam galore. We purchased large sections of foam for our piece, and special ordered a giant two-foot sphere for the ice cream on top. (Those guys can cut any shape in any size...)

Yes, that's me~ with the task of carving this thing out of foam with a hot knife! This process was very extensive, and quite the workout. Melting foam is rather stinky, so I have my Veder mask on.

Foam is finally cut....onto the next step, of covering the entire piece in fiberglass sheets. Then coating it with a thick layer of spackle. Then the sanding....the sanding....the sanding...