Introduction

[Michael Hinckley <michaelhinckley@zzzzzzzzzz>]

My name is Michael Hinckley. I live in Alabaster, Alabama, a small town
just south of Birmingham. I joined the list a few weeks ago. I got
interested in stone carving last year when I decided to construct a
concrete dog, that is, a statue of a dog made of concrete. This started
as a joke but after a time it turned into something else. I poured a
block of concrete using a formula I found on the WetCanvas! website, and
started carving it with a hand axe. I found this so pleasurable that I
bought a couple of books on concrete sculpture, then a few cold chisels
and finally an angle grinder and some masonry disks. When the dog was
finished my wife gave me a Christmas gift of a beginners set of stone
carving tools. So I ordered up a couple of blocks of alabaster from
Colorado, a couple of books on stone carving and I was started.

I recently finished my first piece, a semi-abstract head about 15" by
13" by 8". I plan to enter it in a local juried art show next week. I
bought two more pieces of alabaster (both about 100lbs). While I'm
pleased with my first effort I'm looking forward to the next, when I
won't have to learn how to do things as I go along.

Although I just subscribed to the list I should thank the current and
past members. Since I discovered the LearningStone site I've regularly
searched the list archives and found a ton of useful information.

That's it. I'm pleased to be here. Look forward to future discussions.

Mike