I am the Good Shepherd...

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.
In green pastures he makes me lie down;
to still waters he leads me; he restores my soul.
He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name.
Psalm 23 : 1 - 3
The New American Bible

(continuation of A 7-foot tall statue of me?)

Years ago my parents floated an idea of building a small private chapel in the future and I nodded in agreement since unbeknownst to them I have that plan in mind too. I am not a very spiritual/religious person (a big time sinner here) but, I do believe that blessings come from "Above" and I think it is proper to give thanks for even the tiniest blessing. And this, I thought, is my way of giving thanks, by building a small chapel sometime in the (distant) future.

That "distant" future is getting closer and closer. But the planned chapel evolved into something else. The walls disappeared and the ceiling --- well, the sky's the limit --- literally. The planned chapel will now be an open-air meditation garden dedicated to the Good Shepherd, surrounded by plants and most probably a band of grazing sheep too.

A sample picture of where the statue will be installed to help visualize how it will look.

The picture above is just an approximation of how and where the Good Shepherd image will be located. Once it's installed the surrounding area will be landscaped and recycled tree trunks will serve as stools to sit on. In the future (the Lord willing) it will be completed with a recirculating stream with mini waterfalls. Somehow the sound of flowing water has a calming effect.

A lump of clay meticulously transformed into a rough image of the Good Shepherd. The artist's face is blurred for privacy.

As I've mentioned in my "A 7-foot tall statue of me?" post, with the help of a friend, I've found a sculptor to design a 7-foot tall image of the Good Shepherd. Above are pictures of the current state of the clay model which will be used as a basis in the making of the actual statue. It is a custom-made piece based on a composite of two different images.

At first I was very much concerned that the details of the clay image are not as sharp as those on the pictures I provided. I was assured that all the fine details and my specifications will be incorporated into the actual image once it is produced.

A closer look of the clay image still lacking fine details.

As explained by the artist: "The clay art only represents the concept of the final sculpture that's why it's rough. This is the comprehensive stage, a clay and reduced in size so it is generally rough. Definitely all the details will be on the bigger piece including all your inputs. Reduced clay studies are rough representations of the final piece. What it shows here is the general look of the image especially the resulting pose based on the combined posing of the two picture references you provided."

Amen...

to be continued... (click here for the continuation)
tropical garden Tropical Garden tropical garden Tropical Garden