a ? for JVC

["Walter S. Arnold" <walter@zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz>]

I'm not John, but I'll venture to jump in in with an answer here.
A sculptor creates their own original art, their own original vision, in a
three dimensional material (which may happen to be stone).
A stone carver is an artisan who can impose any design in a block of stone,
and is competent to work in any style as required by the job.
A carver strives to be true to the design and the material; a sculptor
strives to be true to their inner personal aesthetic.

Traditionally there was a very strict distinction between the two.
Sculptors like Canova, Rodin, and Moore would create models and those would
be turned over to the carvers, who would execute the design in stone. The
sculptors rarely visited the carving shop; they viewed it the way many view
the relationship with the artisans in a bronze foundry, or the way many
graphic artists view the print shop.

Traditional boundaries have loosened, so many of us, John Van Camp and
myself for example, work both sides of the fence; sometimes executing
original designs (sculptor) sometimes executing work from designs or models
provided to us. That was rarely the case 100 years ago.

You'll find more discussion of this at
http://stonecarversguild.com/resources.htm#difference