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How to Make a Beautiful Wood Base for your Statue

I often get asked about bases or stands for our Buddha and Hindu statues. You may be looking to add an extra few inches or so to the height of your statue to make it ideal for your home or space.

One of our customers, Michael, recently built a beautiful custom statue base for his Thai Brass Buddha Statue. I wanted to share his process with all of you, so here it is!

It’s an asymmetrically shaped base, so an outline diagram was made first to figure out the positioning of the segments. The base was built out of 1″x7″ red oak boards.

A single coat of ebony stain was then applied (to tone down the red), and the base was finished off with two coats of satin polyurethane (didn’t want it to be too glossy).

Two lengths of different boards were needed to do the job, and one was a bit lighter (much less red). The boards were alternated throughout, which gave an effect that’s not entirely objectionable.

The side grain of the wood was then matched in a mirror pattern which resulted in an interesting “narrow lotus petal” effect.

By design, the base is hollow inside to save on wood, weight and expenses. Numerous clamps and glue were involved in attaching first the doubled segments, then the growing sections, until it was all attached.

The final product is stunning and perfectly complements the statue itself. I sincerely hope that this brief DIY helps you to get started building your very own custom statue base.

Custom Statue Base With Buddha — The artwork on the wall above/behind the Buddha sculpture is by Michael’s wife, artist Gema Alava https://gemaalava.com/

Looking for a base for your garden statue?

Check out our post HOW TO MAKE A BASE FOR YOUR GARDEN STATUE to learn the 3 things that I tell to everyone on how to go about fashioning a pedestal for your statue.

How to Make a Base for your Garden Statue

On an almost daily basis, I have people asking me about a base or stand for their garden Buddha and Hindu statues. Many times the statue is perfect but on some occasions, an extra 6 or 12 inches is needed to make it ideal for their space. Here are 3 things that I tell to everyone on how to go about fashioning a pedestal for your statue.

*This stone garden Buddha statue is raised on a base of local river stone surrounded by paving stones to raise the entire bed up about 12 inches*

Look locally

I feel that each region has its own dominant colors and textures found in nature. San Diego is a desert and thus there is a tan sandstone, desert feel to it. The northeast of the States has fall colors and granite stone. Look at the colors in your back yard and then head down to a local masonry store, quarry, or anywhere that would sell local stone. See if they sell chunks of local stone. Most likely you will find many smaller pieces that would need to be placed together but you may get lucky enough to find a whole block!

Pavers

Head over to your local hardware store and see what they have for pavers. These can easily be arranged in whatever shape and height you would like. I have seen pavers used with and without mortar so you may not need to make too much of a mess.

Build your own base!

*The perfect base made from a concrete mold!*

This is the most do-it-yourself option of the 3. A customer of ours sent in a picture to our #mylotussculpture page with one of our Buddha Head fountains on a beautiful base and I immediately noticed the base the Buddha’s head was on. This option is great because you have control over the shape and the height of the base. Here are the directions he gave to me for making a base:

a. We bought an oval 40 gallon Tuff Stuff Tub from Tractor Supply and used it as a mold. We chose that because the edges were curved and gave the base a nice shape for Buddha and around the right size.

b. Mixed concrete and charcoal colored dye in the tub itself and just added the right amount of concrete to get the base height we wanted. Then when the concrete cured, we flipped it over to use as the base. It comes out very easily. We applied satin polyurethane to the base to keep it scratch resistant and look a little darker. It probably cost around $60 to do this.

If you have any other suggestions please email me at kyle@lotussculpture.com and I will be happy to add them!

*The customer went to the local masonry store and picked up the perfect block of local stone for Garden Ganesha!*

*4 rows of pavers lifted the Buddha head up an additional 24 inches!*

*The customer created a base using local leftover shale stone*

Bitcoin and Litecoin Payments now accepted by Lotus Sculpture

Lotus Sculpture now accepts both bitcoin and litecoin as a form of payment. The value of the statue and the shipping will be converted directly into US dollars. Any returns will be issued in US dollars. We do not account for fluctuations in the cryptocurrency markets.

We strive to make it easy for our customers to have every option for making the sculpture of their dream a reality!

If you would like to pay using either of these two payment methods please email the owner of Lotus Sculpture, Kyle, directly at kyle@lotussculpture.com or call 1-760-994-4455.

Becoming In Touch with Ones Chakras Through Meditation

According to yogic traditions of both Buddhism and Hinduism, chakras are believed to be energy centers within the body. Each of the chakras corresponds to both an important part of our physical body as well as what is referred to as our ‘subtle body’ or spiritual body containing the universal force. Rooted in the Sanskrit word for ‘wheel’, the chakras are believed to be in an endless rotation of Shakti or the sacred force.

Located along a central channel, the chakras are spaced intermittently from the crown of the head to the base of the spine in correspondence with key areas of our bodies. Although the total number of chakras varies from teacher to teacher, many westerners define 7 major chakras: the root, the belly, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye, and ultimately crown. Each of these must remain healthy in order for good energy flow.

It is believed that if the chakras are not in balance with one another or are blocked, the universal force running between them will be slowed leaving one feeling unwoven, tired, stressed, and in cases susceptible to disease. A flowing balance between the chakras is vital to feeling an overall sense of health and well being.

Meditation can be used both to diagnose the health of our chakras as well as to heal and achieve balance within them. If you are currently feeling sluggish, tense, overwhelmed, or just plain overworked, your vital energies may be unbalanced. Try bringing meditation into your life as a healing power. There are many exercises and meditative techniques to help you once again achieve balance. Practice meditating at least once a day to promote relaxation. Start with small increments and work your way up in time as you become more skilled at keeping focus.

The Best Testimonial about a Buddha Statue

“We are so grateful to Lotus Sculpture for providing beautiful, spiritual works of art that truly enhance not only the environment of personal space…but, also, the environment of the soul.”
~Lisa and Gregory~

We are happy to share an email from customers about a Buddha statue they received from Lotus Sculpture:

“Hi Kyle:

I want you to know just how very much Lisa and I absolutely love our new Buddha statue! The warm color and texture of the wonderfully-carved, large wooden form…the richness of the contrasting gold leaf accenting the intricate, flowing lines of the Buddha’s robe…

This beautiful statue now has pride of place in our living room. And while it is certainly an impressive piece of art, it is also an object that contributes to the peaceful serenity of our home’s primary living space. (Lisa has commented on several occasions since the Buddha’s arrival that I seem “a bit more calm than usual.” Nice.)

We were thrilled when the box from Lotus Sculpture arrived. (We had been tracking the Buddha’s journey across the country using the UPS link you so thoughtfully provided in your email order confirmation.)

As an art educator, Lisa has certainly seen her share of “un-crate-ings” at numerous museums and galleries – and even she was very impressed with the quality of packing and the obvious care with which the Buddha was shipped.

When the Buddha was revealed, after we carefully removed the top layer of packing, one could actually hear our unison, audible gasp. As excellent as your online photos are, they simply can’t do justice to the beauty of the three-dimensional piece in person.

We are thrilled with our purchase. Having this work of art in our care is a joy. And, equally so, has been the experience of, once again, dealing with Lotus Sculpture.

Kyle, your love and passion for these wonderful pieces of art…your commitment to ethical, dignified business practices…and a customer service and in-process communication flow that is second-to-none…wow!

In a phrase: We are so grateful to Lotus Sculpture for providing beautiful, spiritual works of art that truly enhance not only the environment of personal space…but, also, the environment of the soul.

Thanks and blessings,
-Lisa and Gregory

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