Stone Carving Classes

 

 

 One of the way I earn a living as an artist is by teaching sculpture classes at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. One class that is becoming very popular is stone carving. As far as I know, I’m the only one teaching stone carving in Virginia. Looking at my past blog entrys, it’s obvious that my primary medium is wood not stone. So how come I’m teaching stone carving.

  When I first started teaching at The Visual Art Center of Richmond the first class I proposed was wood carving. One of my students worked at an architectural stone company as a designer. She was looking for a stone carving class but the closest thing she could find was my wood carving class. I had learned stone carving in art school and liked it but never gotten back too it as wood sculpture better fitted my life style and ideas. But carving in stone is like riding a bike. Once you learn it you never forget it. Any type of carving is second nature to me anyway. Teaching a class in stone seem like it might be a good idea, especially since a little research showed no indication that anyone taught the material anywhere in Virginia. My student’s employer turned out to have been a very generous and consistent donor and patron of the Art Center past and present. She asked the company if they would be willing to sponsor stone carving classes by donating tools and materials. They said yes and my student got her stone class. And now the class ( really just a weekend workshop) is beginning to become popular.

Since the workshop only last a weekend and most students are beginners I have them carve reliefs. I also made some simple stenciled designs that I could spray paint on the stone for those who were stumped for an appropriate design. The shell and the leaf are two of them. 

The stone that was donated is Indiana limestone. It’s soft and consistent and perfect for beginners.

This winter I began teaching middle school kids. In this photo the spray painted images from the stencils are still visible. Clearly the skull was the most popular image.  

I had them begin by carving their name on the back.

Here’s a proud young stone carver with his relief. Many of the kids were amazed that it was fun and easier than they anticipated. At this age they still have so much energy that they can hardly hold still. Such a highly physical medium as stone can function much like sports in channeling some of that restlessness. This young man found carving very relaxing.

I have a stone carving workshop for adults coming up April 2-3. The class is full.