Close to the stone

["George Graham" <georgergraham@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Maureen,
It is a pleasure to talk stone carving with someone who does what you do.
This is one of best reasons to participate in this forum. You are the first
person in 22 years that I've come across who really knows this kind of work.
Clearly, you are a professional , and carve stone with complete control. The
methods and tools are really not an issue with me. The finished job will
speak for itself.

I want to throw out my thoughts on a couple of things that have come out
here so we can kick them around. There are 2 things that really got my
attention. Charles question, are some stonecarvers in love with the process
rather than artistic expression, and your statment, that you are farther
 from "pure art" by focusing on all the parts of mastering hand carved
lettering.  ( my use of the term " pure art " in my previous note does not
seem like the right words, just plain art is better )

To charles I answer, clearly YES. But if you do love the process of carving
stone , then , it you have something to express , it will come out better. I
am one of those people that love the physical work, hammering away, making a
mess . there are times when I run out of direction , so rather then keep
pounding away, I'll walk away . To me the process is impossibly hard if you
don't know why you are beating on a rock. The stone is always there when I'm
ready to go.

Maureen, I've got to say to you that the skill , diciplin and passion you
have for what you do , are powerful tools that , if you ever decide to
branch out into other form of stone sculpture, will be absolutly priceless!
Our experiences in stone work are very similar. I started carving marble in
1977, but did't really learn to control what I was doing until I wandered
into a monument shop in 1980, looking for a piece of marble to do my
abstracts . The owner was a third generation dealer with an background in
arcitecture, who was looking for someone who could carve marble. He saw my
work and said, "hell boy, if you can do that , then you can make a monument.
I started in  and found myself working in a shop  with people who were
masteres at what they did. I started , and learned to do duplicate v-sunk,
roundraised and squareraised lettering in marble and granite. I learned the
rules not to break, so you don't break off a bar, as you know. my point is
that the control and mastery of stone that allowes you to carve letteres ,
is the knowledge that will let you carve anything you want to in stone.  It
really is my honest opinion that really fine handcut lettering is an art.
Fine craftmenship becomes art. there is a blurring of the line between art
and craft at this level. I still do some hand work but mainly , my lettering
skills are a major part of my foundation of different skills that help my
express myself in stone. I would love to see some of your lettering work,
and I would really love to see what you would do with a 200 pound  block of
pink alabaster. You would probably go through it like a hot knife goes
through butter.

My email is georgegraham@xxxxxxxxxxx . If you care to contact me about
sending a brochure, please do. Sending pictures through freelists is
something I haven't figured out. I don't see your address anywhere in this
format. I'm sure is part of the security process of freelists.

Talk more later.
George Graham