[Pierre]

My apologies. I thought maybe anyone in the Carmel are who had been to Pepperdine University in the past 30 years would have remembered seeing it.
No problem. I'll drop it.

P

[AlArchie]

No need to drop it....it was an interesting but perplexing proposition. Just not many of us been up through Peperdine. Been through there a couple times, but don't recall seeing the mural...where is it located?

Al

[Pierre]

Well......... Since this morning the story has evolved.
Short history:
This carving, now hanging at Pepperdine University in Malibu California, was begun in the mid 70s. Five Woodcarvers were selected nationally from among the (judged) best in their craft.

Lawrence Biale
H.T. Clowers
Wallace Eck
Rosemary Nastich
Lucian Hertert

I was chosen to perform three functions. To design the mural, to do the inital illustration on the panels and to provide the "blending" of techniques between the panels. In the third...... I failed. At each 30 day critique I did do preliminary blending, but I was called away to Europe one month before completion leaving an un-named ( now deceased) gentleman to perform this final function. He did not. Despite what I considered that shortcoming, the University was overjoyed, the press, TV, whatever, all loudly sung the praises of this mural and it was hung with pride in the Tyler Student Center,... a huge hall.

Rosemary Nastich is the last one of the original group left alive. I spoke to her this afternoon asking her if she had any photos of the finished, mounted mural. She does, and she'll be mailing them to me tomorrow.

Rosemary Nastich, now in her late 80s, a wonderful carver whose work I will post when I find some of the old photos, has had two full Sunset magazines devoted to her carvings. I have these magazines somewhere here in Lost Prairie, but I haven't seen them for years.

Speaking to her this afternoon, I discussed that mural with her because of this thread. I hadn't remembered the name of one of the carvers, but she still has a mind as sharp as a razor and she remembered. She also expressed her extreme dissatisfaction with the carving left un-blended. You all know that 99.9% of the public neither knows nor cares about differences that only true woodcarvers notice. Well...... She noticed, and we came to an agreement.

I just got off the phone with the head of the President's office at Pepperdine. A gracious lady named Beverly listened to my proposal for 20 minutes and the end result is that Rosemary Nastich, my Son and I will travel to Pepperdine this fall to meet with the board of directors and the President to discuss our finishing that which was left unresolved some 35 years ago. The plan is to take chisels, mallets, tarps and ladders to Pepperdine right after this coming Christmas and strip, carve and blend those panels into a truly finished piece. We'll restain and wax the Oak to finish it, restoring the original finish appearance.

I'll keep you posted on the progress of this venture.... and I should have a picture of the finished, mounted piece to post for you in a week.
And, did I mention that Rosemary is my Mother?

And now you know........... The rest of the story.

P

[Thor]

Thanks for the history lesson, and I will look forward to your future postings on this mural and it's progress.
Thor

[Pierre]

Time flies like an arrow, but fruit flys like a bananna!
Amazing place, this internet. I posted an enquiry on a musicians board and sure enough.......... someone lived near the university! She took these pictures this morning. Note how badly these 5 panels are joined. This is what we intend to correct.








There's no doubt that we'll have to go deeper in the background to achieve the correct flow.

How woould you approach it?

P

[Pierre]

I would like to apologize to you all for posting this. With zero comments or suggestions on how you'd approach this I now realize that our carvings are too commercial for this website.
Great place you have here and I do appreciate having had the opportunity to present a few things, but I'll take my leave now.
Thanks again.

Pierre St. Marie

[AlArchie]

Pierre, before you go charging off in a huff, please understand that MOST of us here are amatuers and like myself, probably don't feel quallified to comment on such undertakings as you are proposing. That doesn't mean that we are not interested in the mural panels or the corrections that you have in mind.

There are a few other professional carvers here who would most likely be happy to work with you with suggestions, but maybe it would be best to ask for Private Messages to get this information. I'd be guessing that there would be a lot of technical discussion that may not go over too well on this portion of the board. Just too technical for a majority of us to give input.

I'd still like to see your progress on these panels as they are worked over.

I hope you don't dissappear from our discussion groups. We all have a lot to learn and you obviously have a lot to teach.

Al

[mdallensr]

I don't see this topic as commercial at all. It's a huge and complicated project that I would never consider. I wouldn't know where to start, even if I had all of the time and resources needed to work on it. Clearly, it's something that needs to be done and the result will be well worth the effort. Good luck and show us the progress as you go. Mike

[Pierre]

I certainly didn't mean my post to be anything personal, Al. I can't remember charging off in a huff from anywhere in my lifetime. I'm just a bit more controlled that that.
I assumed that the lack of response indicated lack of interest, and possibly that the sometimes commercial aspect of what I do left the carvers here a bit cold.
I'll post progress when it happens. That will happen after the board of directors meeting at the university.

P

[Tom H]

I agree with Mike and Al. Please keep posting, both the posts and photos. I am such a rank novice at carving that I can and will learn from just about everything I see, read and hear. Believe me, my eyes and ears are open. There's not to much I can contribute to the postings about and of your work other than say WOW! But believe me I sure do appreciate the opportunity to see and study your carvings. Thank you for posting, and please keep it up. Tom H