From Bad Juju to Beauty

~by Beth Krehbiel

“Orphaned Alabaster” was the article in the November issue of Sculpture NW describing the alabaster which Rick Johnson gave to Ruth Mueller for last year’s Women’s Carving Weekend. When working as an electrician some 20 years ago, Rick had rescued the carved alabaster from a client who didn’t want it; her ex-husband had sculpted it and she reportedly had taken a sledgehammer to it and then left it out in her yard. Rick never did anything with the alabaster, fearing its negative energy from the anger his client expressed towards the stone. Last June Rick asked Ruth if she would to take it; he felt it had “bad juju” and didn’t want it around his shop anymore. Ruth was able to get to the core of the stone and had pieces of it available to the group at our women’s gathering.

Several of us took pieces of the alabaster and I kept in touch with these women to find out what they had been able to do, changing this bad juju into beauty.
One participant indicated that the alabaster crumbled as she attempted carving it. Too bad!

Cherie Perry sculpted “Harry,” the tiny terrapin, seen here. Cherie says that Harry was fun to carve since he is her first finished piece other than eggs which she has focused on sculpting exclusively for a while. Cherie is a “potter turned stone carver” due to Arliss, the founder of our Women’s Gathering.

Connie McGuire, a first-time attendee to the Women’s Gathering, sculpted “Fat, Sleepy Owl.” Connie has a background carving wood but this was her first time carving stone!

Camery Pollard was also a “newbie,” experiencing the Women’s Gathering for the first time as well as doing stonework. She describes herself as “a huge supporter of all things recycle, upcycle, and repurpose” so she delighted in taking the once-abandoned alabaster and sculpting it into something new and beautiful.

This is the raw piece of alabaster which Camery chose to work on.
Here is Camery’s finished carving.

Mary Beth Haralovich was another first time attendee and carver. Here are before and after pictures of the stone she worked which she entitled, “Into the Groove, Finding the Light.”

Kim Danner’s “Birdie” is seen here. Asked about the process of her work Kim replied, “Cracked, like many of us!”

I began carving a very small piece of the alabaster after discovering that I forgot to bring the piece I had been working on at home! Here is my carving. There are lots of cracks in this piece of stone and I was relieved it stayed together as I worked on it. So, as Kim so duly observed, cracked like many of us – but keeping it together!

Many thanks to Rick Johnson and Ruth Mueseler for their parts in providing us women this joyful experience!