Introducing myself: Clive Murray-White - Australian Stone

["Clive Murray-White" <cow_artclive@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Having recent stumbled across "Learning Stone" I though
I should join you all as we seem to have so much in
common.

I have been around for quite some time as a sculptor,
having my first solo show in 1967 but it has only been
15 or so years that I have become preoccupied with
stone.

To cut the story very short indeed, I discovered that
there are vast quantities of marble just lying about in
various bits of Australia and almost none of it has ever
been quarried seriously.

Conceptually I found the idea of stone irresistible as
every separate piece "a perfect slice of time - a
perfect record of the forces that created our planet"

I quarry my own stone.

I prefer working from boulders rather rectangular blocks.

I have been the head of a sculpture department at one of
Australia's leading Art schools for many years.

I now hold what I'm told is a thoroughly unique
position, I am the Senior Company Artist for largest
power generation company in the State of Victoria
(Australia) called Loy Yang Power. This is one of those
jobs that artists dream about its a sort modern day
version of Medici but I get total freedom to make my
work, the company says, "the better I do as an artist
the better it will reflect on them", it is actually
amazing to discover how useful an artist can actually be
in an industry such as this.

I would love to hear everybody's pet methods of removing
bruising and tool marks from marble and limestone, its
very easy if you need smooth clean surfaces but I like
to mix my textures up quite a bit and its very difficult
to keep a natural rough texture and remove every hint of
its working.

Regards to you all, tell me what you think of my stuff.