Hot off the bench

[Ray Cover Jr]

I told folks I would post this job when it was finished.

For those who do not know the story of Leda and the Swan here it is. Knowing the story will help it make sense.

Zeus lusted for Leda but she rebuffed his advances. He came up with a sceme to turn himself into a swan and have an eagle chase him into Leda's arms for protection. While he was there he took advantage.

She had two eggs from this. One egg contained a set of twins ( Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra). The other egg contained another pair fo twins (Castor and Polydeuces).

The wrap around on this was a bear. I had to play loose with the swan's anatomy to make it work. Since it is a fantasy piece and Zues is in the process of turning into the swan it doesn't do an injustice to the piece.

All the feathers in the background and all the folds of cloth took a very long time to do. This was a very challenging job. You can probably tell the knife isn't finished here. Its on its way now back to Matt to finished the knife out.

Ray

[Trenton Entwistle]

Very nice. I always like to see themes taken from mythoogy. I like it! Very nice job on the fine details.

Trenton

[JMW]

Very nice Ray, will it be at the Blade Show?
JMW

[Andy S]

Wow......wow....wow......
I think this may be the best piece I have ever seen from you Ray. You knocked it out of the park. Definitely high impact. Is this a speculation piece or was it done for a customer? I really like it.......

[Andy S]

By the way Ray...will you have this piece at the Blade show or will it at the makers table or is this possibly one of Rob Blanton's pieces?

[John B.]

A wonderful piece of classic art with masterful execution! A joy to see and enjoy.
Thank you for posting it.
JohnB

[Ray Cover Jr]

Andy,

Yes, yes and yes. This one I did for Rob Blanton. He will have it at his table at the Blade Show.

I really need to thank Rob and Leta for letting me do this. When I drew up the design I got kinda carried away and the budget was pushed farther than any of us expected. They trusted me enough to let me do it without cutting any corners to reduce the budget. It was a big chunk of change to invest and I am very humbled and honored that they trusted me with it. Thanks Rob and Leta.

Ray

BTW, Thanks for the kind words.

[ron p. nott]

ray let me join the rest of the gang and say FANTASTIC what a great job you make one very envy of your work i do wish i had your talent to do work like that ..see you at the blade show .. ron

[Tim Adlam]

I love it!

Can't wait to see this one in person Ray.
Really a well thought out concept...congrats!

Tim

[Darren]

Ray this is a wonderful and breathtaking piece, I can just imagine the time and difficulty in the rap around. I was looking at a piece you did a couple years ago, and I must say that since you switched your bolino technique, your figures and shading have even more dept and realism.
Again a superb piece, Thanks for posting.
Darren

[Ray Cover Jr]

Darren,

Thanks for the encouragement. I think the change in technique has improved my work a lot. I can see it and I think most of my customers can too. The only drawback is that the cut bulino takes a little longer than punching dots with a punch so the work cost more. I have had to raise my prices to make up the extra work involved.

I think the biggest advantage is that I can now do pictorial work under my microscope so it looks better (even magnified). When I was punching dots I had to do that with my bare eyes because the punch was always in the line of sight when I would try it under the scope.

Ray

[pilkguns]

Stellar piece of work in all categories. Concept, design, execution all superbly done Ray!

[MCirelli]

Ray
This work is phenomenal if you use your thesaurus and put in phenomenal you will see all the other words that describe the work you put into this. Not only the engraving and inlays but the design, layout, approach it?s unreal. From what I can see the engravers on the other side of the pond don?t have anything over on you. You set a very high benchmark with this. You should be very proud.
I don?t mean to be nosy or overstep my bounds being new to this forum, but how long did this take just so curious?
Made In The U.S.A.
Mike C.

[Ray Cover Jr]

Mike

From the time I started the design to the time I signed it I have approximately 160- 170 hours in it give or take a few. I have a 10 hour day just in research, finding resources, and designing the layout. Probably the most time consuming areas were the corners where the design wrapped around. I wanted to make it flow smoothly so that took a lot of turning and moving the piece around in the vise to work the seperate planes together without starting and stopping places.

Scott,

I have to give credit for the concept to Leta Blanton. She had the Leda and Swan theme in mind and had the idea of giving it the fantasy look. She left the design up to me but the concept was hers.

I am hoping that I get time to put together a better picture of it. Or at least do some post op work on these. I didn't have much time to work on the photos. After the Blade Show. Everything will be better after the Blade Show. (at least that's what I keep telling myself)

Ray

[Tom White]

Ray,

Thanks for the posting I think many find your work and attention to detail an inspiration.

Tom White