Carved Stone in Dripping Springs Texas

Dear Art Lover,

     Phil and Michelle Hoggatt have been friends of mine for many years.  They live and work in Dripping Springs, Texas, with their home-based business called Carved Stone, Inc.  They are such good people and I am thrilled and honored to call them friends.  They create many products for the home (lamps, benches, etc.) from Texas limestone and sometimes other materials. 

     Many years ago they added a sculpture garden, creating a path through the shady parts of their property.  They have hosted many sculpture events and fundraisers for charities and visitors are welcome to stroll the grounds.  I hope that you will go visit some time and even take some of their stone creations into your home.  John and I arrived there late in the evening after we got delayed accidentally in Boerne for several hours, so I do not have any images of the Hoggatt’s lovely gift shop.  

Visit them online at: https://carved-stone.com/

     The bonus for my visit was that they still had a lot of blooming Texas bluebonnets!  I hope you enjoy their nightlights in the garden, as well as my snapshot of the full moon overhead us during our visit.

Sculptures in stone by Phil and Michelle Hoggatt

     If you like, please have a look at some more of my sculpture online here:

http://www.borsheimarts.com/sculpture.htm

Peace,

Kelly

P.S.  Subscribe to the art newsletter here (it is FREE):  http://www.borsheimarts.com/contact.htm

 

Texas Bluebonnets and limestone Carvings

Bluebonnets and Sculpture - lovely combination!

Full moon over Sculp;ture Garden, Texas

Stone sculptures for sale for your garden, Texas or otherwise

Sculpture Challenge Texas

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

Oh boy, did I screw up! I meant to write this post two days ago… you ARE invited!

Saturday, March 5, 2011: Sculpture Challenge (Texas) fundraiser for PAWS Animal Shelter

Hours: 10 am to 5:30 p.m.

Over a baker’s dozen of sculptors with even more art will be on hand for this event out in the sculpture gardens and grounds of my friends Philip and Michelle Hoggatt. They are two of the kindest, most generous people you could ever meet and they host this annual event for a local charity.

Plus I will be introducing my newest marble carving “Back to Back” – yep, the one that you have watched getting carved here on occasional blog posts. This marble sculpture will be entered into the Sculpture Challenge. Each artist is allowed to enter one piece and those attending the event get to vote on their favored works. It is a friendly competition, but the real goal is to help find homes for puppies of any age and needed funds for the shelter.

I will also have a few selected smaller works on exhibit and am just happy to be forced from a semi-seclusion. Do not get me wrong – I love to be alone and it is necessary for my process, but everyone needs a balance. It will be fun to connect with old friends and meet some new people.

Please come on out if you can (and if you have not received this too late):

CARVED STONE, INC.
5300 Bell Springs Rd. Dripping Springs, Texas 78620
Contact: Philip & Michelle Hoggatt Phone: 512-858-5665
Admission requires a $10 per person donation to PAWS. All ticket proceeds benefit PAWS. Also, if you purchase one of the sculptures entered into the Sculpture Challenge, 20% will go to PAWS.

Sculpture Challenge

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

This Saturday sculptors from around central Texas, including myself, will be helping Philip and Michele Hoggatt of Carved Stone in Dripping Springs raise money for PAWS – a local animal shelter. The event is titled the “Sculpture Challenge” and you can come out and stroll through a garden full of 3-dimensional art and chat with the artists who created most of the works there.

You may also cast your vote for your favorite sculpture and 20% of all sculpture sales this Saturday benefit PAWS. Voting concludes by 4 p.m., but the grounds are open from 10 am to 5:30 p.m. You do not even have to buy art to help out the shelter: The small entrance fee goes directly to PAWS.

CARVED STONE, INC. – Sculpture Challenge March 6
5300 Bell Springs Rd.
Dripping Springs, TX 78620
Phone: 512-858-5665

For more information and directions, visit:
http://joomla.sculpturechallenge.com/

Creating a Bronze and Stone Sculpture

Cari Amici (Dear Friends),

I spent part of my day today with Philip Hoggatt of Carved Stone in Dripping Springs, Texas. Phil not only supplies stone to carvers, but his primary business is creating stone products, from plaques and furniture (lamps, park benches, planters, and clocks) to sculptures large and small.

Phil took my specs for the base of my newest bronze figure sculpture “Against the Dying of the Light” and found a piece of limestone that fit the size requirements. He used a chainsaw to cut the basic shape and when I arrived at his studio this morning, he refined the shape of the stone and added a really cool texture.

He used a bush hammer for texturing the surface of the rock. I had never seen this type of bush hammer and nicknamed it a horseshoe crab because of its shape. It is quite cool, leaving a much larger textured pattern than the texture tools I use with my pneumatic hammer. I love the look and I loved the time savings.


I share this close-up image with you of the blades of this bush hammer. When the power is turned off, as in this image, you may see the triangular arrangement of the three blades.

Afterwards, Philip used his forklift to load my new stone sculpture base into the trunk of my car. After I took the image below, I needed to stop playing tourist so that I could guide the stone into the trunk as Phil lowered the forklift. We set the stone inside the trunk over two 6 x 6 cedar posts that I had placed there to aid in removal back at my studio. I have a dolly with a hydraulic lift. She is fantastic! And she is much cheaper and healthier than back surgery!

Once unloaded, I will lighten the weight of the stone a little bit, wash it, dry it, add holes so that the bronze figure can be attached to its base, and then seal the stone for protection.