Slash and Burn

After blocking out the form with a stone-cutting chainsaw, a grinder with diamond blade is used to “slash and burn” the hard geometric form into smaller planes and contours. From there, hammer and chisel are used to break away the cuts and a bush chisel is used to begin shaping the form. As the details get smaller and more precise, so do the tools used. ​

This is the stage of stone carving I enjoy the most. I have ‘slashed and burned’ the mass of stone down to the skin. I know that I am close to touching my final surface in some places. This is when I begin excavating like a paleontologist or archaeologist, trying to find those key lines or projections or landmarks where the sculpture has broken through the surface to give me a clue as to where the rest might be hiding. Once I uncover those landmarks or key lines, the rest of the sculpture is easily imagined buried beneath the remaining layers of stone. At this stage I use the air hammer with a bush chisel to seek out those lines.