stone for a green man

[Norman Watts <Norman_Watts@zzzzzzz>]

Good advice and ideas have continued to come in on this green stone
issue. Thanks to all. I have several objectives in mind with this
project:

1) To try to create the thing I have in mind (or at least get close to
it).
2) To learn about different stones.
3) To learn a new technique, e.g. grinding vs chiseling.

There seem to be a lot of green stones out there, varying in colour,
pattern and hardness (and difficulty in working them). Because I want
to try to make something with considerable relief and fine detail, e.g.
relatively thin and fragile foliage standing well free from the
surface, the stone needs to be both strong (so they don't snap off too
easily) and relatively easily worked and polished. I imagine these
properties are almost mutually exclusive. However some people have
written that some stones they have recommended are both strong and
easily worked and polished. I don't have the experience yet to judge
that. I'm still looking for input, but I suspect that what I really
need to do is get samples of several types of stones and test them for
suitability. I did stop off at a marble place last night in the
industrial park where my gym is and asked about blocks of green marble.
The guys simply could not conceive that I was not looking for a vanity
or counter top -we just gave up after a while!