#monument design

[stone-cold-groove]

Works Progress Administration (WPA) historical records survey of the Robert E. Lee monument base and pedestal. New Orleans - 1937.

[mrkoppa]

5 August 2021 | Resurrection Cemetery, Madison, Dane County, WI

Challenged to match unusual calligraphic lettering for an added name and dates on the back of one of the interesting asymmetric monuments at the Catholic cemetery in Madison.

Carbon rubbings of existing lettering transferred to rubber stencil, then cut by hand with trusty pen knife, and sandblasted to a deep V.

[tsukihoshi14]

[ENG] Yuzuru Hanyu's speech and interview - Sendai Monument Design Unveiling Ceremony (20.4.2019)

Other links: Drive (please always check the original post for the most updated links)

I hope everyone can feel the warmth in his words. Yuzuru is always grateful for his roots and his fans, such a precious boy :3

[mrkoppa]

28 August 2019 | Forest Hill Cemetery, Madison, Wisconsin

Had the opportunity to design and carve the monument for my Aunt Peggy and her husband, Paul today. Raised polish illustration from their wedding program and V-cut Classic Roman from the Monument Lettering Center.

[mrkoppa]

18 May 2019 | St. Martin’s Cemetery, Martinsville, Springfield Corners, Dane County, Wisconsin

Could be beacause I was raised Catholic, but to me it’s hard to deny the coolness of good crucifixion sculpture, and especially in a rural cemetery on an overcast day.

After taking a few minutes to walk around the scene and then adding the final date to George Marx’s monument, an old flat marker caught my attention for its unusual Helvetica-esque lettering. Closer inspection noted evidence once again (this happens often) that women live a LONG time when their husbands die young.

And then how about this beautiful old Pertzborn monument? More evidence, this time reinforcing the nagging “they don’t make ‘em like they used to” sentiment that comes to mind so often in cemeteries.

And to wrap things up, just as it was time to get moving along, here comes this kid walking up to the crucifix scene with half his attention on his magic phone. Pokémon hunter. Told me he finds them up there often and he hatched three eggs while we were talking about the importance of living in the real world at least equally as much as living in “that” world. He didn’t miss a beat and assured me that for as much as he looks down at his phone he looks up and around at where he really is.

[mrkoppa]

3 May 2019 | Oak Hill Cemetery, Sauk County, Wisconsin

A little moron the declining appreciation for art and craft in the United States, as evidenced in the cemetery monument industry. It is only my guess that these two monuments would have been relatively similar in price in their respective eras. If it’s not too obvious, the grey one on the left (on which I was contracted to add the final date), is the more recently created of the two. Nice Gazebo, eh? This is what happens when the computer enters the industry and the sales people are given catalogs of clip art to show people how they can personalize their monument. So who’s responsible for the decline? The monument buyer or the seller? The owner of the monument company? The monument industry for ever thinking this was somehow an improvement over traditionally hand crafted floral ornamentation? And how about the shape...can anyone deny that the proportions of the older monument are more sturdy and appealing? It’s just embarrassing sometimes, to be part of this chinsy era, where profit trumps quality, art and craft. I wonder if we will ever wake up and get back on the right path.

[mrkoppa]

2 May 2019 | Elroy City Cemetery, Juneau County, Wisconsin

A special occasion today. Contracted to add lettering to the back of this beautiful Wausau Red monument, and a final date to one of the complementing foot stones.

Look at this thing. I recently learned from a retiring stone carver that different blasting media produces different results in terms of finish on the granite. This is the first time I have noticed an example of it in the cemeteries. Note not just the craftsmanship of the shape carved flowers, but that there are three different textures, and therefore colors of the same red granite within the design: polished deep red, a soft pink from frosting with sand or some other similar media, and then a finish in between the two, which must be what I was told about earlier this spring....the result of frosting the granite with steel, if I remember correctly. There is no question, when you observe the history of monument making in the cemeteries, that we don’t value craft and beauty the same way we once did, less than 100 years ago.

[theeternalmonuments01]

Grave Monuments in My Area: Finding the Right Memorial in Franklin Park | Jessica

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