The work begins with our shared love and passion for Alabaster. There’s something about this stone that thrills us to the core and invites us to embark with it upon its adventure. It could be the discovery and variety of its full spectrum colors, it could be how exciting it is to see light filtering through the stone or maybe it’s that we can make it do whatever we want almost as though it were something pliable – which it isn’t!
There is definitely something about the energy of Alabaster and it’s ‘draw’ upon us that compels us onward in the face of the intensity of actually lifting the stone to carve it. Alabaster is after all known as “The Queen of Stones” because she’s soft, invites touching, is colorful and translucent. The spirit of each piece begins with the stone. She speaks and we listen.
These hand gathered (not store bought) materials make our Alabasters even more precious. Our favorite days are waking up in the morning, kicking on some rocks out in the pile until one speaks to us and then entering our carving dialogue with it. The ‘stone speaks’, we listen. Rather than impose our ideas on the stone we are led in most cases by the shape, color and translucency of the stone itself to bring out its highest beauty. For this reason we refer to ourselves as ‘stonecarvers’ rather than stone sculptors.
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