Hand-carved Texas limestone affixed to Vermont green slate.
The acanthus motif in stone carving and ornamentation has existed and persisted for millennia. Its botanical flourishes, tucks, and rolls are sensuous and inviting, and are a true delight to carve. Acanthus epitomizes several ornamental carving principles: smoothing curving lines, the alternation of concave and convex forms, and the variation of form origination, direction, and departure.
This piece was partially inspired by Victorian cameo pendants which were delicately carved from a single stone, often agate, and which utilized the natural color bands in the stone to create depth and layering.
Elfdock is the result of my monthlong residency at The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in West Rutland, VT. I came to the CSSC with the idea of enlarging and studying the Elecampane wildflower’s curled and drawn leaves in winter. I collected several leaves the previous winter and chose one to study and enlarge. I found a lot in this leaf: a gesture, a back bend, a braiding vascular system, a skip, a salute. Elfdock is currently on exhibit and for sale at the CSSC:
Final sculpture. Vermont Danby Marble seated on a base of Italian Breccia Marble.
An Elecampane (“Elfdock”) leaf suspended in a Vermont winter field.
Collected Elfdock leaves.
Collected Elfdock leaf for focused study.
Gestural sketches of leaf forms.
Detailed study drawing of an Elfdock leaf.
Claudi Lorenzale’s Allegory of Winter, a discovered and inspirational parallel.
The All-Seeing Eye, the Eye of Providence, the Eye-In-The-Triangle. Subtle radiating divine beams envelop the pyramid, haloing its position of strength. Writhing and swirling around this form are the serpents of timeless return, the everlasting cycle of death and rebirth. A relief study in occult symbolism and imagery.
Texas Lueders Limestone, 22.5”x11.5”x0.75”
Currently for sale. Please contact for pricing.
Relief carving seeks to evoke depth and perspective without working out the entire three-dimensional form. Certain delicate objects—like a flower petal, like a leaf—cannot be carved in the thin and papery dimensions as we know them; most stones are too brittle. By forcing a perspective, positioning vanishing curves and lines, and using very careful undercut chiseling, you can suggest lightness and slightness of shape. It’s a magic trick.
Stylized study of magnolia blooms.
Texas Lueders Limestone, 16”x10”x2”
Abstract corbel as a study in symmetry and convex and concave forms. An exercise in direct carving, where the forms and lines emerged organically, with little or no premeditation.
Texas Lueders Limestone, 21”x15”x9”
Study of an imaginary severed leg.
Salvaged Texas Lueders Limestone, 25”x6”x6”
Part of a larger fountain designed by Joseph Kincannon of Kincannon Studios. Beginning with a sea theme, the entirety of this hand carving was completed through “direct carving,” or carving without any preset design and creating forms spontaneously and organically. The impressions of shells, mollusks, anemones, barnacles, and spirals emerged and were teased out incrementally, until the whole garland was filled.
Texas Lueders Limestone, 5’x3’x2.5’,
Part of a larger fountain designed by Joseph Kincannon of Kincannon Studios. Stylized crowning curl waves.
Texas Lueders Limestone, 20”x20”x16”
Long, untraceable, and ever-growing, lore is the ledger of a culture’s myths, superstition, and wisdom. This hand-carved limestone book evokes that metaphor, sprouting from an older marble bedrock, its source concealed by live moss.
Currently for sale. Please contact for pricing.
Part of a larger fountain designed by Joseph Kincannon of Kincannon Studios. The challenge of this carving was creating a bursting, layered form that exists on two intersecting planes while organically merging those planes and hiding the hard pivot where they meet. The nestled spirals add depth and whimsy, and delicate undercutting of all forms create hard shadows suggesting slightness and detachment.
These stylized splashing waves are part of a larger fountain designed by Joseph Kincannon of Kincannon Studios. Symmetrical yet individual, the waves combine surging forms and gentle lines that draw the eye upward and buoy the carvings placed above them.
Based on a drafting study of classical Medici urns, which have been carved in this style for centuries. This urn was carved entirely by hand, without power tools or machines, using traditional mason’s geometry.
Texas Cream Limestone, 14”x10”x6”
A commissioned funerary bench carved in rare Hadrian Limestone from West Texas. Simple, modern asymmetrical block forms stand in pleasant juxtaposition to the accompanying Medici urn. Upon close inspection, one can discern the hand-lettered family name inscription, “Frisbie,” and hundreds of embedded sea fossils.
Texas Hadrian Limestone, 5’x3’x2’
Occasionally, a building restoration will call for a complete removal and reproduction of a weathered carving. The Wellesley Town Hall in Wellesley, Massachusetts, had just such a situation. An old, eroded carving was removed from the building, and using it as a model, a brand new carving was created to recreate the original carving.
Brown Sandstone, 5’x2.5’x1’
