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Stone Sculpture

All > "Art" > Sculpture > Stone Sculpture by kam

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These boulders are Hawaiian blue rock, a very dense & heavy stone. I find them in a small bay of my friends beach property. They have been tumbling around in the ocean for eons, tossed against each other by huge waves, smoothing & rounding them. I choose particular ones for their asthetic shape & lift them out with a crane. Most of them weigh several hundred pounds.
I bring them home & live with them for a few weeks looking @ patterns, texture & color changes on the surface. The stone seems to show me the starting lines & then the design progresses from there.
I use a diamond encrusted bronze wheel on a vertical grinder to rough out the basic design, then polish it with progressively finer grit wheels. I always leave some outer natural surface to give contrast to the design.
I like to carve a bowl in the top of most of my pieces to catch water. It represents an offering dish to float flowers (or let the birds drink)
The first boulder shown is called "Whale" topping the scales @ 350 pounds.

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"Meteor From Mars"

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"Sea Urchin"

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"Sea Urchin"

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"Sea Urchin"

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"Meteor From Mars"

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Step 1
I look @ a rock & decide how I want it to stand to show off its best lines. Getting the level right so it won't wobble or want to topple is important. I start by cutting grooves around & through the area I want to remove.

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Step 2
I clear away material with a 3lb sledge & chisel, then make some more cross cuts & clear away till it stands firmly.

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Standing upright, I can see the best place to carve the bowl.

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Chalk on a few lines & start grinding.

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Here you can se the bowl w/water in it.

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Another angle. I'm still working on this piece.

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