An instructional event for advanced stone carvers. A five-day course of instruction at Pothier Enterprises’ place of business in Delta, BC, very close to the Canada/US border. (local sculptural tools dealer.) Michael Binkley and George Pratt, internationally known sculptors, will be the instructors. (Websites: www.binkleysculpture.com and www.granitecarver.com) Andrew Pothier is event convenor/field manager. (www.pothierenterprises.com) Workshop Mission […]
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 […]
Amy Brier is the real thing. She is a working stone sculptor who carves limestone and uses several sculptural media. She is equally comfortable in conceptual art discourse as in restoring a 12th Century French cathedral, and her founding and directing the annual International Limestone Symposium in Indiana (now in its 13th year) exemplifies her […]
Soapstone has become universally used as a carving medium by beginners and experienced journeymen alike, as well as those sculptors who appreciate its ease of working and its brilliant finish. It can be rapidly worked in detail with hand or power tools and can be brightly polished in beautiful hues. In its natural condition, it […]
As an alabaster/limestone kind of person, I find the prospect of carving marble intriguing but a bit intimidating. Would I need a different set of tools, carbide or diamond for example, to work in marble? The first piece I ever carved was in marble. Being uninformed (ignorant, or at least uninitiated) I used a ball […]
Ed: Ron Geitgey (pronounce it GET chee) was a long-time member of NWSSA, was a professional geologist for 40 years and was a talented sculptor and photographer. In 2002 and 2003 the Journal ran an informative series entitled “Stone Queries” in which Ron answered questions that the membership had about stone. We hope that you […]
Mounting Pins After expending the effort to drill a mounting hole perpendicular to a base or to the bottom of a sculpture there remains the problem of keeping the pin or sleeve correctly aligned as the epoxy cures. Fast curing epoxies often don’t allow enough positioning time and slow cures try patience, as well as […]
When asked by beginning carvers for advice on what type of stone to start with I often go beyond the usual discussion of carving characteristics and suggest a stone big enough that it won’t move when attacked by hammer and point. When working smaller pieces all of us have experienced the frustration of a stone’s […]
A studio floor with heaps of stone chips entangled in tools, power cords, and air hoses is dangerous as well as uncomfortable. To minimize this clutter I have mounted a power cord and an air hose on overhead booms that pivot from the studio wall. Each boom is about four feet long providing a swing that covers the […]
There is in South Carolina a sculpture garden that apparently is known by few of my fellow sculptors in the West. Brookgreen Gardens was founded in 1931 by Archer Milton Huntington, a railroad magnate, and Anna Hyatt Huntington, his wife, sculptor. The sculpture collection consists of over 500 pieces in stone and metal of figurative work by American sculptors displayed in […]
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