Mount Rushmore is one of the largest hand carved stone sculptures in the world. Taking some 34 years and 400 workers to complete. It is a little over 60 feet high or 18 meters in metric sizing. Willard’s challenge was to carve this in a matter of months not years and mount the finished sculpture within the eye of a tiny sewing needle.
 
Willard searched his microscopic world for suitable materials and began this carving upon a single grain of sand, unfortunately Willard was unable to find a way to arrange the grains of sand within the eye of a needle, without significantly damaging the carvings. Frustrated by the brittle nature of single grains of carved sand, Willard knew he would have to find a larger single fragment to successfully achieve the high finished standard he had set for himself.
 
Whilst eating his lunch and considering where a new material may be found, Willard lost in thought, accidentally dropped the dinner plate he was holding. Whilst sweeping away the broken shards of porcelain he found what he thought to be the perfect shaped fragment. Ten weeks later Willard was applying the final coat of oil paint with his eyelash to seal the delicate structure and finish his depiction of Mount Rushmore.
 
This piece will be mounted and enjoyed within a bespoke magnifying display.