Report on Verena Schwipperts Granite Hands Commission – May/June 2007

The three chubby, granite boulders Verena started with weighed in at a whopping eighteen tons. By virtue of her hard work, she has slimed then down to a trim sixteen tons. Working on the hands every day now, Verena raises dust clouds that have reportedly been seen drifting by Orcas Island. One imagines them circling the earth like sands from The Sahara.

Tracy Powell drops by every two weeks to put in a day of work. Verena is grateful for his incredibly hard work and ready companionship.

Early on, large chunks were removed with a diamond chainsaw, but most of the shaping has been done using an angle grinder to cut frets and, believe it or not, a hand-hammer and chisel. When Verena gets down to the fine shaping and finish work, she’ll use a bushing chisel and air hammer. The palms of the stone hands will be polished. Verena’s own, more delicate hands, get a little more polish with every working day.

Verena’s schedule calls for a completion date at the end of June with installation, on campus at the Walla Walla Community College slated for the second week in September. Her German name for these three hands is: Von Menschenhand. In English it is By the Hand of Humans.