Stone Carving Workshop

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Students at my home studio here in central Texas just finished their second day of carving stone. Their projects are progressing beautifully. We have one more day left in this Labor Day Stone Carving Workshop.

Usually I do not work on my own projects while I am teaching, but in stone carving, the students need to have a certain amount of time to work with the tools and their stones and just CARVE. Because of all of the safety gear on our heads and all of the noise generated, talking is limited. So while I can discuss art concepts in my anatomy courses as students work, that is not possible while carving stone.

One student George took this image of me today working with a hammer and chisel on a piece of Colorado alabaster. Student Kate is in the background.

We lost one student, Kevin, this morning. He said that he needed to get back to his home in North Texas because he is a volunteer for the American Red Cross and needs to help prepare: His community is a place in which those evacuating their homes to escape from Hurricane Gustav will soon arrive.

Kevin was a little worried that George, who traveled from east Texas to take this stone carving workshop may not be able to return to his home Monday evening after we wrap things up here in central Texas. He reminded me that during the Hurricane Katrina evacuation, Interstate Highway 10 was converted into a highway that only headed west. Anyone trying to go east, towards the storm, was out of luck.

It is strange how lives interconnect and so many people experience different realities and we all await Gustav's arrival.