Stone Carving Marble

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Several people from different parts of Texas will be joining me at my home studio on Labor Day weekend Aug. 30, 31, + Sept 1. They will all be learning to carve stone for the first time. Stone is my drug of choice, so I cannot wait to share it with them!

I miss stone carving the most when I am working in bella Italia, but I was able to get back to it these last two days here in central Texas. I hope to make a lot of progress on a stone carving that has a real title already, but has affectionately been nicknamed ‘George Washington.’ She is a figure in Canadian marble – but no, she does not look anything like George.

I am a direct carver. This means that my technique is to draw directly on the stone and cut away what I do not want to remain. Another method to carving is to create your sculpture in a more forgiving medium, such as clay, wax, or plaster, and then transfer or copy the original into the stone, usually by measuring. For more complicated compositions, the latter method can save a lot of disappointments and time.

However, I am stubborn and I want to push myself to see more into the stone and improve my skills and vision. I also like the ability to change and “play” that the direct stone carving method offers.

Now my day is over and tomorrow my aide and I head into Austin, Texas, to start our series of anatomy and drawing workshops. It is not too late to join some of them:
www.borsheimarts.com/artclass.htm

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