Page 3 - Demo

SlIppery rock GazeTTe
Julie Warren Conn
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The Accident
“I was working in the studio on a Saturday afternoon on December 7, 2019. I was already tired when I started this project, and anytime you feel that you are too tired and not focused, and doing something poten- tially dangerous, you probably shouldn’t be doing it! Nonetheless, I needed to finish a very small piece for a show in New York, and began to work on it. I picked up a very old right-angle grinder with a 4-1/2-inch diamond blade on it, started cutting, and within a split-second the saw blade grabbed the sleeve of my left wrist. It was an old grinder with an on-off switch, not a paddle switch, and I had done what all of my stone carving buddies did; I had removed the guard. Fortunately, the cloth of the sleeve had bunched up and stopped the blade – but not without consequences. Without me realizing it, it had made a deep, severe cut into my wrist. I then jerked the plug out of the wall, and tried to get the saw loose from my clothing. All the while my mind stayed perfectly clear, which was amazing. I had on several layers, so the blood wasn’t com- ing through, yet.
“Continuing to struggle, I still couldn’t get the saw off, so I grabbed scissors, tried to cut it off, and finally ripped off the sleeve, and realized how serious it was. I then ran out of the studio, then out of the house and into the neighborhood scream- ing for help, but nobody heard me. So, I ran back into the house and called 911. By then, I knew I was really bleeding heavily and in big trouble. 911, you know how they do, ‘Now where are you, blah, blah, blah?’ But now I’m really frightened, and a little hysterical, and said, ‘Don’t you understand that I’m bleeding to death?’ But as soon as I heard the sirens, I knew help was on the way and threw the phone down.”
The bottom line: Due to her heavy cloth- ing, the saw blade stopped just short of the bone. Fortunately, a hospital intern was able to put Julie’s wrist back together tem- porarily, just to stop the bleeding – which was still a ten-hour process. Then, three days later, extensive surgery was per- formed. And now, after two years of gru- eling therapy, she’s regained about 80% of the use of the hand that she almost lost, and is again able to create beauty, albeit more gently and carefully.
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decemBer 2022|3
The Founders
“I was working with the Geor- gia Granite Group in Elberton, Georgia on the 9,000 lb. gran- ite base for this project. It was fabricated in India, shipped into the Port of Savannah in the summer of 2021, and trucked to the GGG compa- ny. I spent two hot and sweaty weeks in the 103° Georgia heat drawing and preparing the rubber for sandblasting. When completed, it was sand- blasted by a man from Peru. The base was then trucked to Loretta, KY for installation at the Maker’s Mark Distillery. All of the staff at GGG were instrumental in cheering me on. This was a wonderful, ex- citing project after overcom- ing a serious injury!”
Healing Hands, Marble & Bronze
“Rehabbed and pushed to the limit by my kind, caring, tough hand therapist – one of the very best in the country, and fortunately based in Lexington–I carved this work. Cut from a raw block of Colorado Yule Marble (the same stone as used for the Washington, DC Lincoln Memorial) I carved a series of hands. After all, for two years and after hundreds of hours of therapy trying to restore the use of my hand, I daily studied the hand. This piece just flowed – I simply held the chisels! The original mar- ble piece is in my therapist’s collection. I have also had it cast in bronze- thus, the greenish color cast.” The original roughly measures 13˝ H x 15˝ W x 7˝ D.”
Wishing Stone
Above: This large sculpture of Coral Rouge (Tennessee) marble is one of Julie’s favorite materials, and increasingly hard to find.
Right: Julie works on a new piece in her studio in Winchester, Kentucky. The pneumatic air tools in the foreground are heavy-duty and “practically antique” Inger- soll-Rand grinders. Julie also has a large col- lection of old Italian chisels and files.