The methods and tools I employ in creating a sculpture are as time honored and traditional as the craft of stone carving itself. In fact, the process of carving a marble portrait or figure has changed little in the last 2,400 years. Even air-powered hammers, widely used today in stone carving, are mere substitutes for the power of a sculptor's biceps, not for the sculptor's skill - one still has to know how to wield the chisel and strike it effectively.

Environment

Two important considerations in choosing a suitable location for modeling a sculpture, or any portrait, are lighting and floor The result of casting the clay is known as the original plaster. It's "original" because both the clay original and the mold made from the clay are destroyed in the process of creating this plaster. There are techniques in use today wherein the clay and mold survive intact; however, this is useful only in situations where a number of reproductions will be made, such as in a limited edition of bronzes. The original plaster serves as the model from which a bronze copy is cast, or from which a marble reproduction is copied.

A marble portrait cannot be made from life (that is, directly from the sitting model) for several practical reasons. A stone carver needs to wear a good deal of eye protection and other safety clothing; the sitter would need to do the same, which would mean the sculpture would have safety goggles on, too. Also, a clay portrait takes ten to twenty hours - the same bust in marble may take up to two hundred hours to carve in marble! And not least importantly, it is a bit more difficult to fix mistakes in marble than in clay.

If the work is to be cast in bronze, a second mold is made, this time from the original plaster. This is used to cast another replica, but in wax. A special mold is built around the wax copy, the wax is heated and melted out of the mold, and molten metal is poured in to replace the wax. (For more information on this process, refer to the links page )

Finish Media

From the original plaster, innumerable copies in any medium can be made, including more plaster casts, terra cotta, wax, metal (including bronze), and stone. I prefer and specialize in stone.

In a medium like bronze, the finished work is simply a cast of the original plaster, more or less a technical process performed by skilled artisans. Bronze is a beautiful and versatile medium, and the process of casting allows many opportunities for the artist to retouch or modify the work as desired.

With marble, the work of carving the finished piece may also be handed over to skilled craftsmen. If the artist has the skill and the desire, he or she may complete as little or as much of the work themselves as they choose. A good part of my attraction to marble stems from the fact that I carve my own work.

This has many advantages: I save time and money for my clientele, I have complete authority over the work at every stage, and most importantly, the finished work itself can truly be called mine, from concept to execution.

You see, while marble carvers for hire are very good at copying faithfully the artist's original work (it is what they are paid to do), each medium has its own language of textures and surfaces, and each medium interacts and reflects light in different ways. A surface that looks good in clay or plaster may not have the same impact in marble. A conscious translation of textures from one medium to another is necessary to maintain a sculptor's intent for a piece. Thus, an exact copy into marble may diminish significantly the power of the original. By carving the marble myself, I can be sure that every detail supports the overall vision of the sculpture.

Although it is fairly common for abstract artists to work their own stone, it is rarely done these days in the realm of realistic portraiture. The integrity of this process gives me an immense amount of satisfaction, and I serve a clientele who seem to appreciate this aspect of my work.

Marble Carving

Carving marble is simpler than most people assume, but simple is not the same as easy. Marble is usually a soft, crystalline form of limestone which can be found all over the earth in varying colors, densities, purities, and quantities. Shades from snow white to coal black can be found in the continental United States alone. Generally, I use white marbles from Colorado or Vermont, as well as a variety of Italian and Greek marbles.

To copy a work (say, from the original plaster into a marble copy), a simple device commonly called a pointing machine (machinetta) is used. This device consists of a long needle at the end of a fully adjustable arm, and the whole thing is designed to sit upon the original plaster and the uncarved block of stone. The needle is positioned to touch its point to any detail on the surface of the plaster. Having located this detail, the pointing machine is transferred to the block of marble, the needle now pointing to the location where that detail should appear in the finished piece, and also indicating the depth at which the detail appears in the marble.

It is a simple device, and has evolved over time from other forms of pointing machines employed for copying since Classical Greece. Other methods are used to enlarge or reduce the size of the finished work, if desired. Though knowing about these techniques sometimes seems to take the mystique out of stone carving, they are in no way a substitute for skill. They are, rather, necessary tools for skillful carving. After all, pointing machines only show where to carve, it is up to the sculptor to do the work.

The actual carving of marble is done with hammers and chisels, as it always has been done. Air-powered hammers are now often employed to save time and reduce wear and tear on biceps and elbows, but, again, they are not a substitute for skill. There are many situations in the course of the carving where power tools just will not do, and the finesse of a hammer or mallet upon a hand chisel is often the workhorse for the delicate or subtle aspects of the art. Nearing the intended surface of the work, the sculptor switches to files and rasps, which remove material without leaving chisel marks. Abrasives such as sandpaper or pumice stones remove the marks of the rasp, and it is the prerogative of the sculptor to decide just how to finish a particular surface. Choices of finish range from rough (uncut) marble to mirror polish, with scores of gradients in between.

Until a century ago, a marble would be particularly prized for its ability to take a high polish. There was nothing else on earth like it, and an unblemished surface was indicative of the fine craftsmanship and value of a work. Unfortunately, a high polish on a marble today looks like nothing so much as plastic. More than once I've been in a museum and have overheard comments to the effect that a statue 'looks so perfect that it looks fake.' I try to avoid this quality in my work. I employ high polishes judiciously, and always complement a polish by using it next to a less reflective surface on the same piece.