Introducing myself; Shop Design

["Bill and Rudi Weissinger" <weissinger@zzzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

My name is Bill Weissinger.  I'm an attorney by profession.  Now in my mid-
fifties I find that what I'm really interested in is stone.  I've been
carving stone since last May, when I took an excellent weekend symposium at
the Roche Harbor Sculpture Park taught by Tracy Powell (who I've noted is an
occasional contributor here), and followed that with the also-excellent ten-
day July symposium of the Northwest Stone Sculptor's Association at Camp
Brotherhood, near Mt. Vernon, Washington.  I live (and practice law) on San
Juan Island in Washington State, in the middle of Puget Sound.  I've
completed (well, nearly completed) three pieces, and am working on my
fourth, fifth and sixth pieces.  I have a number of rough marquettes on my
desk of ideas for the future. Some of those ideas involve large stone
pieces.

All of my work so far has been in alabaster, but I'm slowly acquiring the
tools to work in marble, granite and basalt.  One of my next few pieces is
likely to be a marble piece of perhaps 7' high.

I discovered aboutstone.org a few months ago; since then I've greatly
enjoyed both reading the daily exchanges and browsing through the archives,
sometimes discovering the answers to questions I didn't know I had.  (The
recent discussion on how to carve the line where two curved surfaces meet is
an excellent example, since I'm roughing out just such a piece on my carving
table now.)

Turns out that as a hobby, stone carving is pretty expensive.  (As Dave
Barry once said, there's a fine line between a hobby and insanity.)  In
addition to the tools, I've bought a pick-up truck, and am about to build a
14' x 20' sculpture studio with a 10' x 20' covered porch over a concrete
pad, as I position myself to move six or so years from now when I retire
 from law into more intensive stone work.

Which brings me to my question.  I just finished reading the archived thread
on shop design [12/15/02 - 12/17/02], which was a series of very useful
responses to Howard Gottlieb's request for information as he was faced with
how to design his own studio.  With that information in mind, I have the
following questions:

1.  Studio size:  Howard Gottlieb had proposed building a 20' x 12' studio.
Some of you thought that was too small.  At $83 or so a square foot here
on San Juan Island, size-related costs add up quickly.  As I get more
seriously into this will I likely find I have undersized the structure
at 14 x 20?

2.  Skylights:  The comments recommended north-facing skylights.  I'd
planned on south-facing skylights, favoring the thought of the bright
light and warmth from the sun.  I know (from novels) that artists in
their garrets like north-facing lights, but is that important for
sculptors also?

3.  For the steel I-beam for running a trolley and chain hoists, my builder
suggested a 6" beam, perhaps because he has one that size unused in his
yard.  Will that be big enough when I start to work big?

4.  Howard, if you happen to read this letter [your e-mail address
apparently having been deleted in the archives], I'm curious about how
your studio came out after all that great advice.  Regrets on anything
you did or wish you'd done?

5.  For heating, we're planning on either wall mounted electric or propane
heaters, but thoughts on heating are welcome from those of you who
haven't gone with radiant heating.

I am very impressed and appreciative of all the stone wisdom so many of you
out there have, and how willing you are to share it.  I've enjoyed
listening.

Bill Weissinger