Well...I've just completed the final protective sealing coat on my second stone carving, "Orcas in the Passage". Project complete. I am incredibly excited to continue the exploratory adventure of carving stone. What a fabulous pleasure!
Orcas in the Passage is 21.5" diameter x 2.5" thick, carved into Indiana Limestone. I used the traditional "V" carving technique as taught to me by Tracy Mahaffey. I recently learned this technique while attending one of the worlds greatest stone mason, carver, sculptor events; STONEFEST.
This piece of work is inspired greatly by my life and location living in Victoria, BC, Canada on Vancouver Island. As well as my heritage, friends and family. It is with great pleasure to carve such lovely stone, gifted to me by some amazing people at Marenakos Rock Centre in Preston, Washington.
I feel this piece of stone art is meticulously rendered, with all "V' grooves terminating seamlessly at their deepest infinite points. WHAT? It's hard to explain until you've done this method, but the carving will create itself in some ways. It's only done when it's done. the grooves cannot be halted prior to their exact termination points. It won't look proper. Nor can the grooves go too deep. They won't keep their 45 degree angle without the top finished plane of the carving opening up beyond the desired shapes.
My first carving was done without any preconception, where the "V" grooves were used (with imagination) to create a symmetrical mandala in which the image itself lies within the "V' grooves, as you can see here.
Orcas in the Passage was done through a preconceived illustration before I started. It was also done in the reverse method, relief carving, where the image lies outside the "V" grooves at the plane of the stone. The preparation for this was simple, yet time consuming and you can see the whole process here.
Please enjoy the photos! I look forward to showing you my next piece. Good things come in 3's....
PEACE...
