Technique

Most of the sculptures on this site are carved from the stone called alabaster, which is in the gypsum family. It looks a lot like marble, but is much softer to carve, and therefore easier to work with. The stone ranges in color with a wide variety of variation, and is sometimes translucent. It usually has veins running through it, and the veins are sometimes brittle or hard quartz-like substances. These need to be worked around, or incorporated into the design. I have also used serpentine, which contains bits of other minerals such as iron or copper. The first stone I ever carved was soapstone, which is very easy to work with.

The carvings are created by hand using a special hammer and chisels made for this purpose. Occasionally, I use a drill to create holes, but most of the carving is done by hand. After the shape is done, the forms are smoothed in stages using rasps and files. Then, various types of sandpapers are used, first dry and then wet.

When it is as smooth as possible, the surface is then polished and buffed with wax, until there is a subtle luster which helps to bring out the form and beauty of the stone.