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C hangemois A gothic art project DONALD E. RUSSELL STONE CARVER - ARTIST www.changemois.org

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  • ChangemoisA gothic art project

    DONALD E. RUSSELL STONE CARVER - ARTIST

    www.changemois.org

  • About the artist Born in the U.S.A. I came to France in 1956, accompanied by my wife and two very small children. After completing a Masters degree at the University of California at Berkeley, my aim was to pursue a Doctorate in Paris, but, almost inadvertently, I came to stay. The region where Gothic architecture was initiated and developed was the le de France. Since this was where I lived, it seemed normal that I acquire an interest in the 13th and 14th century marvels that surrounded me. !

    In 1985 I began following courses on this subject at the Sorbonne, a fascinating hobby that continued for 15 years. By nature given to research (I was employed at the Musum National dHistoire Naturelle in Paris for 35 years, doing research in the paleontology of primitive mammals) I of course supplemented the Sorbonne courses by profiting from the enormous bibliographic resources that Paris offers to increase my knowledge.

    The researcher in front of his work place

  • After my retirement in 1992 I was able to devote all my time to a project to build a small edifice in a pure 13th century style. The Gothic of this period, in my opinion, constitutes an architecture of unrivaled beauty. !

    During 1993 I made plans and drawings for this edifice (it is called an edifice for lack of something better: its not a house, nor a castle, nor a church). To transfer these ideas into reality, I began carving the wonderful limestone that constitutes much of the old, historical buildings of Paris. To do this, I hastily constructed a shelter in the backyard of my suburban home. In 1994 I finished the stone door jambs of a first doorway. !

    By 2007 I considered that I had carved about 80% of the stones that were necessary for the windows and doors. My rather advanced age convinced me that it was now or never. After a discouragingly long search I found property that was sufficiently large, and, moreover, was situated near the house of my son, in the Morvan natural park of Burgundy.

    !

  • Dons Passion

    Don has been working on this project since 1985. A long, slow germination process was followed, after retirement in 1992, with designing the Edifice and then carving stones in his backyard shed at his home near Paris.

  • The sculptingThe tools

  • When about 80% of the stones had been carved Don set out to find a piece of property to build on. He finally settled on a place in Burgundy, miraculously obtained permission to build his architectural fantasy, and went to work. The property had a single room house that was built in the mid -1800s, which would be convenient to live in while he worked on his project. The adjoining field was the right size to build his 13th century Edifice on and late in the summer of 2008 an excavator dug a 4m-deep hole for the foundations and scooped out access roads as well.

  • !

    The foundation seemed to take forever, occupying two years, and entailing a lot of work, which didnt really show. Because working on the Edifice exposed during the winter was not possible, and since Don needed to be active the year around in order to finish by the time he turns 92, we had to build a large shelter that would cover most of the worksite. !

  • Since a secret tunnel between the house and the Edifice was desired, and since it was not really part of the Edifice, cement blocks and mortar were used, permitting construction in early spring and late fall.

    An excavator dug a 60m long, 2.5m-deep ditch that became the tunnel. A concrete base was poured and reinforced cinder block walls erected. An arched concrete roof, covered by a concealing footpath, finished this project .

  • In between the arch supports a reinforced plywood floor was fitted to hold up the granite ceiling rocks. Afterwards the wooden arch supports were mounted and the carved arch stones carefully placed with wedges to leave a gap for the mortar.

  • The Potern hidden door and the staircase in the tower

  • Finally, the edifice began to rise above ground level. At the end of 2012 the wooden vault supports were removed from most of the basement rooms. A valid (and rather spectacular) idea was finally becoming a reality. !

  • Work continues with the completion of the Griffon room. There are many carved stones waiting to be assemble into the yet to be built stone walls of the basement.

  • We are looking for patrons of the arts to help finance

    this project.

    Contact us through www.changemois.fr

    General enquiries and guided tours by appointment

    (+33) 0606515378