Whether you’re slicing away hard stone or minimizing impact during the reductive process, a diamond blade is the edge of power. Coupled to an air or electric angle grinder, it quickly becomes an ally searching for the stone spirit. A turbo blade locked between the standard disc flanges works well for a straight on approach […]
It’s another typical drill job in the sculptor’s studio. Assemble a sculpture from three pieces of stone. Fix them together with 5/16 inch stainless pins, either sleeved for disassembly and transport, or epoxied for permanent placement and strength. Topmost is this black and red marble wing, scorched brittle by the SW desert heat. A carbide-tipped […]
Hand tools, yeah! One arm swings the hammer; the other braces the point or claw. This drum beat sends us on a journey into the stone. It’s primitive, direct, a linking of human spirit to the earth itself. It’s that pulse and flow, that ancient meter that pushes deeper into the stone, producing a connective […]
ed Note: Much has happened in the variable speed electric die grinder marketplace since this was written and there are many choices at features, searching for: variable speed electric die grinder will get you many results at a wide variety of price points and capabilities. Since his writting in 2004, the Foredom and other flex […]
This article emerges from a lunch time question and answer discussion about power tools with Steve Sandry posing the questions, and Jason Johnston, Tom Urban, and Brian Bennan expressing their opinions on power tool performance. For working in hard stone, and for doing certain detail work in any kind of stone, many of us have […]
Submitted to Sculpture NorthWest by a long-time NWSSA friend, Steve Erickson. All sculptors and landscapers need to move stone whether natural or worked. This can be a problem when too heavy to lift, too light for machinery, or due to constraints of the locale. Here’s a tool that Sabah Al-Dhaher finds useful, easy, manageable and […]
Student: Where does marble come from?Teacher: Marble comes from limestone. You could say it’s a “newer” limestone.S: What? Marble is really just a ‘newer’ limestone?T: Yes. According to the Vermont Marble Company, “the original sedimentary limestones were formed in an ancient seaway, mainly from the remains of marine organisms and lime muds resulting from chemical precipitation. These original […]
Many carvers are intimidated by the difficulty of sanding and polishing basalt. This is entirely unnecessary. Soon you too will discover that deep space, raven’s wing glow within your own dark and crusty igneous chunks. Basalt is in fact very easy to finish if you follow these eight easy steps: Prepare the work site environment. […]
In the book, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Michelangelo is said to have draped the David marble in damp cloth after every carving session. What was he doing? While I wouldn’t begin to question Michelangelo’s approach, I strongly suspect that description is more artistic license of the author than artistic technique of the sculptor. Damp […]
August 20-21st 2022 NWSSA, Evergreen Arboretum, Everett Parks, and the Schack Art Center are holding a Sculpture Walk in conjunction with Everett’s Fresh Paint Event. This two-day event held on Saturday, August 20th & Sunday, August 21st is much like those held at the end of our symposiums and the Volunteer Park sculpture walk. The […]
34th Annual International Stone Carving Symposiumat Pilgrim Firs Camp, Port Orchard, WAJuly 9th-17th 2022 2022 Guest Artists and Workshops Close Contact: Junctions Between Forms and Materials – Stephanie RobisonThe sculpture of Stephanie Robison plays with multiple oppositional relationships. Her latest series of work combines traditional stone carving and the process of needle felting wool. By […]
A recent project I did this past summer through Path with Art, an organization which works with people in transitional housing, returned me to teaching after some time off. While the exhibit was vandalized before the scheduled month was out, it did last two weeks, and the participants were alright with letting go of their […]
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