[null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/ONE.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/ONE.jpg", "formatted_filename": "ONE", "alt_text": "\u201cWindow Rock, A Love Affair\u201d, Colorado marble, 62\u201d tall.", "rendered_width": 139}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/FIVE.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/FIVE.jpg", "formatted_filename": "FIVE", "alt_text": "\u201cAncient woman\u201d, Carrara marble on steel and wood base, 20\u201d high. ", "rendered_width": 110}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/TWO.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/TWO.jpg", "formatted_filename": "TWO", "alt_text": "\u201cWaterfall\u201d, Colorado Marble with Minnesota granite base, 52\u201d tall.", "rendered_width": 150}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/FOUR_2Use_both_four_photos_with_singel_caption.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/FOUR_2Use_both_four_photos_with_singel_caption.jpg", "formatted_filename": "FOUR Use both four photos with singel caption", "alt_text": "\u201cFamily Tree\", Tennessee black limestone, 34\u201d tall.", "rendered_width": 114, "rendered_height": 251}, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/FOUR.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/FOUR.jpg", "formatted_filename": "FOUR", "alt_text": "\u201cFamily Tree\u201d, Tennessee black limestone, 34\u201d tall.", "rendered_width": 120, "rendered_height": 251}, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/Use_for_Index_on_page_2.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/Use_for_Index_on_page_2.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Use for Index on page", "alt_text": "\u201cFamily Tree\u201d, (detail), Tennessee black limestone, 34\u201d tall.", "rendered_width": 56, "rendered_height": 250}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/SEVEN.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/SEVEN.jpg", "formatted_filename": "SEVEN", "alt_text": "\u201cSpirit Island\u201d, Carrara marble, 32\u201d wide. \u201d", "rendered_width": 300}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/EIGHT.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/EIGHT.jpg", "formatted_filename": "EIGHT", "alt_text": " \u201cVenus\u201d, maybe Indiana marble, 20\u201d tall. ", "rendered_width": 175}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/THREE.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/THREE.jpg", "formatted_filename": "THREE", "alt_text": "\u201cMary Magdalene\u201d, Portuguese Marble on Wood Base with gold and silver leaf, 37\u201d tall.", "rendered_width": 120, "rendered_height": 233}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/SIX.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/JamesLarson/SIX.jpg", "formatted_filename": "SIX", "alt_text": "\u201cRoman Numeral One\u201d, with French marble base, Colorado marble, 30\u201d tall. ", "rendered_width": 120, "rendered_height": 218}, null, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/ShuagnBriggs/Goddess_of_flora.png", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/ShuagnBriggs/Goddess_of_flora.png", "formatted_filename": "Goddess of flora", "alt_text": "\"Goddess of Flora', Shaugn Briggs, 40\" high, Oamaru Stone", "rendered_width": 250, "rendered_height": 374}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/ShuagnBriggs/Reflection.png", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/ShuagnBriggs/Reflection.png", "formatted_filename": "Reflection", "alt_text": "'Reflection', Shaugn Briggs, 59\" high, Oamaru Stone", "rendered_width": 215, "rendered_height": 286}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/ShuagnBriggs/Tuatara.png", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/ShuagnBriggs/Tuatara.png", "formatted_filename": "Tuatara", "alt_text": "'Tuatara\", Shaugn Briggs, 14\" long, Oamaru Stone", "rendered_width": 250, "rendered_height": 164}, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/ShuagnBriggs/Untitled.png", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/FoundOnFacebook/ShuagnBriggs/Untitled.png", "formatted_filename": "Untitled", "alt_text": "Untitled, Shaugn Briggs, 20\" high, Oamaru Stone", "rendered_width": 222, "rendered_height": 167}, null, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/FredericChevarin.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/FredericChevarin.jpg", "formatted_filename": "FredericChevarin", "alt_text": "Frederic Chevarin", "rendered_width": 150, "rendered_height": 111}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/doublevortex.JPG", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/doublevortex.JPG", "formatted_filename": "doublevortex", "alt_text": "'Double Vortex' Frederic Chevarin", "rendered_width": 177, "rendered_height": 265}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/sm1006030041.JPG", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/sm1006030041.JPG", "formatted_filename": "sm", "alt_text": "'Ele-Plant', 23\" x 8\" x 5', Lincolnshire Limestone", "rendered_width": 150, "rendered_height": 225}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/sm9596.JPG", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/sm9596.JPG", "formatted_filename": "sm", "alt_text": "'Wave', 6'6\" x 20\" x 20', Semi-Rijo Portugese Limestone, Frederic Chevarin", "rendered_width": 117, "rendered_height": 175}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/sm206.JPG", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/sm206.JPG", "formatted_filename": "sm", "alt_text": "'Secret Thought', 12\" x 18\" x 8\", Alabaster, Frederic Chevarin", "rendered_width": 119, "rendered_height": 179}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/smchevarin029.JPG", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/smchevarin029.JPG", "formatted_filename": "smchevarin", "alt_text": "'Souls in Love', 4' x 16\" x 16\" Cararra Marble, Frederic Chevarin", "rendered_width": 137, "rendered_height": 206}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/smP1010337.JPG", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/smP1010337.JPG", "formatted_filename": "smP", "alt_text": "'Reveur' (Dreamer), 26\" High, Alabaster, Frederic Chevarin", "rendered_width": 250, "rendered_height": 188}, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/sm0156.JPG", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/ArtistSpotlight/2012/Chevarin/sm0156.JPG", "formatted_filename": "sm", "alt_text": "'Armour and Tenderness' 4' High, Carrara Marble, Frederic Chevarin", "rendered_width": 155, "rendered_height": 233}, null, null, null, null, null, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/Karel_Vreeburg.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/Karel_Vreeburg.jpg", "formatted_filename": "Karel Vreeburg", "alt_text": "Karel_Vreeburg", "rendered_width": 90, "rendered_height": 120}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_5.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_5.jpg", "formatted_filename": "karel", "alt_text": "\u2018Uncovering Rings\u2019, White Alabaster, 51 Cm X 50 Cm X 38 Cm, 2008 ", "rendered_width": 213, "rendered_height": 160}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_15.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_15.jpg", "formatted_filename": "karel", "alt_text": "\u2018540\u00ba Split Torus, The Breakthrough\u2019, African Serpentine, 60 Cm X 50 Cm X 38 Cm, 2009 ", "rendered_width": 112, "rendered_height": 150}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_10.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_10.jpg", "formatted_filename": "karel", "alt_text": "540\u00ba Crossing Twisted Rings\u2019, Cellular Concrete, 160 Cm X 120 Cm X 120 Cm, 2009 ", "rendered_width": 187, "rendered_height": 140}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_11.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_11.jpg", "formatted_filename": "karel", "alt_text": "\u2018Trefoil Knot With Attached Ring\u2019, French Sandstone, 128 Cm X 65 Cm X 57 Cm, 2011 ", "rendered_width": 90, "rendered_height": 120}, null, {"document_url": "http://nwssa.org/sculpture-northwest/directory-sculpture-northwest/127-found-on-facebook", "unformatted_src": "/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_17.jpg", "src": "https://nwssa.org/images/stories/journal/GuestSculptor/Karel_Vreeburg/karel_17.jpg", "formatted_filename": "karel", "alt_text": "\u2018Infinite Trefoil\u2019, Blue Alabaster, 57 Cm X 53 Cm X 48 Cm, 2009 ", "rendered_width": 112, "rendered_height": 150}, null]

Found on Facebook: James Larson

Last Updated: Tuesday, 04 April 2017 21:43 “Window Rock, A Love Affair”, Colorado marble, 62” tall. I collect stones that I like the shape of. I look at a stone that I bought or that was given to me and ponder and ponder and ponder. I’m fairly versatile so I may think “landscape” or I may think figurative. In this case, I chose to go landscape. I carved it in Santa Fe, NM. over a 9 month period. It is a sand blown molded mountain that has contained Native American Cave dwellings. I took the idea to Europe for the Gothic Arches and added the Nurturing Bird Monster/Vine Creature who loves this mountain and has clutched it for a very long time. Her offspring/limbs cling equally lovingly to the rock.Hello stone carvers and other artists and craftsmen and craftswomen. Ancient woman”, Carrara marble on steel and wood base, 20” high. Carving a sweet head or face of a fragment of good rock is fun, but nobody says it’s easy. Faces are extremely difficult. Who doesn’t know that?

We are a family who think alike and we share similar approaches to our work. I would like to share what my approach to my marble carving is. First of all, I need the stone in front of me to work from. In all of my life I have never had a perfectly cut stone to work from, nor have I ever wanted one.

I went to art school at MCAD (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) because I had carved many sculptures in wood and friends urged me to go to art school. In Art School I found an abandoned chunk of Greek Marble that was white with big crystals and nobody claimed it. I carved my version of the face of Morpheus, the god of Dreams and that was the starting point for me.

One can look back on that time and wonder, “Why would this be a starting point for the need to carve marble?” Is it that I come from Norwegian carpenters and boat makers and stone masons? Perhaps. My Dad is buried in a cemetery in Sioux Falls, So. Dakota where his Dad built the stone walls and the tower in that cemetery out of rounded river rocks from the Sioux river. One wonders about that and one wonders why I would be the first person in our family to pursue art in marble carving.

I went to Italy: first Florence, then Pietrasanta and finally Rome and how can you resist all of those influences? “Waterfall”, Colorado Marble with Minnesota granite base, 52” tall. I think I made this after a good stint of carving in Italy. Roughly speaking, there are three generations of men: the vibrant current generation in the front, the aging generation in the background and the new generation of waterfall on the left with nurturing leaves to support it. The lizards crawling and scampering are symbolically protective.My Approach to marble carving is simple… I start with a good sound piece of marble that I like the shape of. One can always change the shape even without knowing what you are going to carve. You all have this. Faith, that your diving into this stone is gonna carry you through to a decent outcome. I rarely know where I’m going at first but the faith that you feel that you have with that shape of stone carries the day.

Often, I have a sense of what I’m after but the Faith in the stone usually gives you the idea of where to insert this or that. I should mention here that this approach works mostly on the premise that you are winging it and you don’t care exactly where you end up. Hopefully, in a good result, however.

I have carved many tombstones in Rome in relief, and some tombstones in Minnesota where you need to keep in step to what people expect of you for that paycheck. However, to have a chunk of marble with the freedom to carve whatever comes to mind is a nice place to be.

Can I qualify, "a nice place to be?” Is not, "carving marble" a Nightmare in and of itself? Headaches galore? Horrible dreams of what decisions you could make and didn’t make? How you got cocky and took too much off of here and how do you compensate for it over there? Carving marble is a nightmare but one should go forth and suffer. Because when it’s done to your satisfaction, you can say… “Family Tree”, Tennessee black limestone, 34” tall.This bust has six breasts and represents three generations of women. The “Tree” of the Family Tree braids up the back. “Spirit Island”, Carrara marble, 32” wide. We, up here on Lake Minnetonka have a Spirit Island, small and uninhabitable, yet who wouldn’t want to give it a try? I imagined a piece of earthly land that has endured multiple thousands of civilizations and architectural styles. I made a time conglomerate of all of those periods of time and architecture and wrapped them into one “Spirit Island.” “Venus”, maybe Indiana marble, 20” tall. I found it on a pile of Minnesota granite at A Cold Springs Granite site and the staff thought it was a piece of crap. I asked can I buy it, and they said get that thing out of here. So I did. Honestly, this torso is the only totally hand carved sculpture in this group except for the black granite base which was manufactured at a stone plant. I carved it at a place with no compressor, so I forged my own chisels and really messed up the tempering until I finally got the hang of it. “Mary Magdalene”, Portuguese Marble on Wood Base with gold and silver leaf, 37” tall. My attempt at the Heroine of the Bible for surviving the male dominated editing process. In my way I wanted to show her as deeply physical and having her neck extend into the spiritual world. The dark vein on her cheek indicates her scars from embattling the system as she evidently did. “Roman Numeral One”, with French marble base, Colorado marble, 30” tall. This is your basic bald guy with a long beard who is presented on a roman column. I am calling all my roman columns Roman Numerals.

Found on Facebook: Shaugn Briggs, New Zealand

Last Updated: Tuesday, 31 January 2017 03:04 Shaugn Briggs was born in l970, in Christchurch, New Zealand. From a very young age, a passion for art emerged. It was not until his early 20’s that he decided to pursue a career in the arts through painting and sculpture. An accomplished painter, he discovered Oamaru Stone sculpting in the early l990’s. At this time, Symposiums were all the rage in Christchurch and at one of them he picked up a off-cut from a piece of Oamaru stone to have a try. After working with the Oamaru, his skill became evident and very soon he was selling his work. Not long after beginning to sell his sculptures, he was approached by a Community Park Committee who commissioned him to sculpt an original statue that incorporated a bird bath. His sculpture became a feature of the community park. Since this time Shaugn has kept very busy selling carvings through galleries and obtaining numerous private commissions.

His works became sought after and this lead him into another area – that of teaching sculpting. Shaugn has been involved in teaching adults for 12 years and is enormously satisfied by the joy that many students have received from carving. Students are often amazed at the work they can produce when guided through the process of beginning to know the tools through designing their own carvings. Many of his works are about the human connection. The sculpture “Reflection” is a good example. It represents dealing with the devastating earthquakes that rocked Christchurch in 2010 and 2011. During this time so much loss was experienced that the sculpting of this piece was a way of releasing the built-up emotions. One head faces backwards, acknowledging the past sorrow and the other faces forward looking towards an unknown future and all the promise it holds. A word from Shaugn: “Sculpture has given me many things. It tests my intellect, supports a passion, has created many relationships, has made me a creative tutor and drives my love for the arts.”

Shaugn's website is www.learnstonecarving.com and his facebook page can be found at:Facebook

Found On Facebook: Frederic Chevarin

Last Updated: Thursday, 02 January 2014 22:50 FOUND ON FACEBOOK:  Frederic Chevarin

Frederic was born in 1971 in France and moved to England in 1998 after graduating from the ESITC School of Engineering in Caen. Although he is trained as a Civil Engineer, he turned to sculpture during a stay in Italy where he approached marble, and has been carving ever since. Frederic’s artistic research is about finding happiness and hope by carving ideas inspired by nature. His sculpture is indeed the testimony of a personal research, and that research is about the meaning of being and feeling. Searching for an answer can lift the spirit up and bring light to solid matter, and in the same way his sculptures emerge in light from the shapeless matter. At the beginning, the inspiration is matured from a precise idea to a model in clay. The clay is transposed into a block of alabaster. By the carving process, the alabaster becomes a flowing movement.

The lightness of the artwork becomes pure light thanks to the incredible translucency of the material and his “carving thin” technique. This very last metamorphosis allows his sculptures to distance themselves from technique, machines, hard work, materials and the carving experience, only to focus on the effect of light. Very rarely, stones are treated so dramatically that they become light. But it is only by completing these successive transformations that the alabaster boulders become messengers which convey ideas about hope and happiness. Hoping for a better life and searching for happiness are the most fundamental ideas humankind wants to find and search for.

How does Frederic feel about being a sculptor?  “This is my life, my work, my passion and my utter desire to share this fantastic discovery, showing how much I love stone, going to the limits of the material, wrestling with the fear of breaking, because it is worth the risk, leaving the comfort zone to lead an artistic experience to the edge. A block of alabaster doesn’t give away its secret easily, but during the carving process, something extraordinary happens when the sun’s light shines through alabaster. What a discovery and a fairy tale. Stone becomes light itself and there is no need to explain, conceptualize or demonstrate anything. It is not about tools or machines, stone, technical abilities or strength of the mind, it is about living a passion, keeping the soul eager to progress, searching for one’s feelings to go upwards, to lead a true life without compromising the inner self.”

For more information about Frederic Chevarin go to his websites: http://www.frederic-chevarin.com  http://stone-sculpture-fine-art. blogspot... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WmLONmdd2s Found On Facebook: Angela Treat Lyon

Last Updated: Thursday, 02 January 2014 22:49

FOUND ON FACEBOOK:  Angela Treat Lyon I'd been a fine art potter for almost 20 years, when an old friend introduced me to soapstone. In two shakes, I fell totally in love with stone, and decided this was it for me. Forever.

I have a knack for introducing delight where there is darkness. So to the best of my ability, I create pieces that convey some kind of delight, some kind of connection with the Profound.

So when I saw my friend's pile of soapstone in his studio, something clicked - I knew - Knew - that this was my vehicle-of-choice for the expression of delight. He gave me some small pieces...I immediately disappeared around the corner with my pocket knife and dug in, playing with pieces that would fit in your hand.

Guitar Man was one of my first bigger-than-fist-size pieces. It's only 4" deep - I like bas relief, making depth appear where it isn't. I had no proper tools at the time - I carved it with a framing hammer and wood chisels! It exemplifies the emotional feel I like to convey with my pieces. If I can't feel it, it didn't work, and out it goes.

Some say I have a complete disregard for "correct" proportion.” It's true! I want movement and emotion. That's why some pieces have giant hands – the hands say so much! I carved exclusively by hand for ten years, later traveling to Italy to learn from 2 maestros how to carve marble and use air tools. Air Tools! What a revelation! Weeks of hard labor shrunk into hours....

When I was Artist-in-residence for the Art Centre of Gore, New Zealand, I participated in the Oamaru Stone Carving Symposium, and later on, the one at Mt. Somers.

In Oamaru, we were given a 2-ton hunk of stone to carve in 14 days. I'd never carved anything bigger than 2 feet! I had nightmares the first 3 days - would I get mine done (La Balanza) in that small time frame? I did it in 10 days, so I had enough time to do more with the 'scraps' from the larger piece, like Behind the Truth - a play on how we all have a public persona we hide behind. I asked myself, what if our public persona, that mask we wear in public, was our true self? What if the internal persona was actually the mask? And I was tired by that time of the glare on the white stone, and wanted to play - every piece in the symposium was white - boring! So I watered down some acrylic paint and painted Behind the Truth sliver and orange. Odd, but it was one of the first to sell in the auction. So much for nay-sayers and traditionalists.

I'm Happy to Be Me and Pomegranate came out during a time of intense internal questioning at the end of my stay in NZ - looking for the peace, power and joy within myself. Bella, too. I was amazed to find that if you hide the eyes, she looks exactly like my mother. I like surprises like that. In ancient Hawaii, people used to slide on bamboo sleds down the hard lava hills on volcanoes. Rock Slide of course, was a pun on that. It's also one of a series of several strange horses: each of them has one human hand and one human foot, two hooves, and a round circle on its shoulder with a human face in it.

In Eskimo tradition, a shaman shape-shifter is shown coming back into human form by showing an animal - his spirit-form - with a human face and a human hand or foot. So in this series, I show the sha-woman's face (because it IS a woman) is shifting from animal back into human form.

Sculpture endures. I always wonder what anyone digging my work up 1000 years from now will think about it. Perhaps they'll think they found some ceremonial relics with which people revered or worshipped part-human horses, eyeless women and a race of huge-handed people! I make art because I must. It's a cellular need. There are times I feel grumpy or irritable, and a friend will say, "Get thee to thy studio and all shall be fine!" And she's right. Carving these simple, expressive forms, the voluptuous, sensuous, simplified stone beings who are light on their feet and have bellies full of laughter to silently deliver to any viewer who stops and appreciates, fills that need.

To find Angela Treat Lyon on Facebook Click Here

Found On Facebook: Introducing Karel Vreeburg

Last Updated: Thursday, 02 January 2014 22:34

FOUND ON FACEBOOK  Introducing: Karel Vreeburg The internet is becoming a much used source for every subject imagenable. Stone sculpting videos and images are at our finger tips through search engines, websites and social networks. Lane “discovered” Karel when he responded to Karel’s “friend” request on facebook. This introduction of Karel Vreeburg is a way to bring his work from the internet to our members. Karel graciously agreed to this facebook/website/Sculpture NorthWest connection. Here is some of what we found out about Karel and his amazing work. Karel Vreeburg is a a 60 year old stone sculptor living in Harrlem, Netherlands. On a straight line he’s 4 miles east of the Atlantic and 11 miles west of Amsterdam. He speaks French, German, English and Netherlands Taal (NT2).

In April of 2010, there was an article in STONE IDEAS.COM, a global on-line magazine for arcatecture and design with stone. “To date we have presented a number of unconventional artists. But in the case of the Dutch Karel Vreeburg nothing complies to the conventional projection of a sculptor: he holds a PHD in medicine and began working in art after a short introduction at the ripe age of 53. In a precisely worded e-mail he writes that he actually only works the stone using methods which he learned in his early years as a dental technician except that shaping and mouldings takes place in the interior of the stone.

Fascinating forms come to light, which seem somehow impossible. He writes: "What I am looking for in the stone are mathematical objects such as a twisting, Möbius rings and mathematical knots." Father of the ideas is Mauritius Escher and his crazy yet maddeningly rational worlds. "Like Escher I am not interested in formulas, but in the visual outcome of them."

He calls his works "Hidden Sculptures". One piece captivates him for up to 300 hours using his old tools of the trade since conventional stone sculpting tools are only suited for the exterior of the stone. He dreams of working a really large object in the future, he writes. Yet another idea is an animated projection whereby complementary parts of a stone sculpture made of ice or snow and adapted to the colours of the stone would melt and flow away. Animation could produce a sort of creation and destruction – a coming and going in a sort of breathing or respiration.

Oh yes, he is also a bit remorseful at not having studied mathematics or Astronomy. At the 2009 Florence Biennale he was awarded 3rd prize for his work.”

Would you like to drop in on Karel at his studio? Here is what he said about that:

“My sculpture studio is on the ground floor of the old “Tax Building” in the city of Haarlem. You can find me there almost every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8 am to 5 pm. There is a permanent exposition of most of my sculptures in the building. It is not a public building, so the front door is closed. Call me to open the door. Visitors are welcome.” To see more go to: http://www.karelvreeburg.nl/index/13828493_Kunst+Critici.html

International phone number: 0031 6 104 57 305

Studio address: Surinameweg2, 2035VA Haarlem, Netherlands

Karel’s website: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


