why carve?

Quoted text begins.Making stone sculpture is perfect work, a perfect balance between making and
thinking, and, luckily for me that's all I do these days.
End of quote.

Clive,
I'd say not nearly long enough!
I've spent the day moving marble from point a to point b, and I come back to
see the list has gone wild. The give and take between you and Bill is
educational and entertaining.

I would like to rephrase the subject to , why carve stone? Everyone reading
this list is stuck on the medium. The very act of "carving" is a step
towards an aesthetic attitude. To try to make something out of stone that is
pleasing and speaks to the artists as well as the viewer is the very
definition of aesthetics. The study of beauty and the psychological
responses to it. There is something about working in stone that some carver
find irresistible, and some viewers also.

My very condensed story is that I've always carved. I started making
interesting shapes that started from the natural shapes found in wood.
Carving to discover that unknown form inside a stick was addictive to me
when I was 3. I stumbled into a sculpture class that was taught by a teacher
who was teaching stone carving in marble, bronze and aluminum casting. It
was an introductory class and was not geared to traditional , classical
sculpture. The students could make anything they wanted. I was hooked on
stone then and still am.

The medium has been the source and shaper of what I make when I'm carving
for myself. The softer the stone , the more details of form come out. The
harder the stone, the less the fragile detail. I don't carve anything that
is not necessary to the work. If a form is not part of the piece, then it
just doesn't work. The process that I go through to make sculpture that
makes my soul sing, will not allow me to waste my energy on unsatisfying
sculpture.

The endless variety of color and texture that stone gives the carver is a
great part of why I'm still exploring my way around a chunk of stone. You
just never know what will show up when you start sanding and polishing.
After many years, I've focused on themes that I want to develop. I was
carving these themes all along, but it has taken me a long time to recognize
them. If I had been able to go to college, the discovery process of what I
should be doing would have been much shorter, but I've gotten there anyway,
in my round about way.

I don't seem to do anything very fast, so its no surprise that getting a web
site up is taking far to long. After a lot of fits , starts and setbacks,
I'm on the right track, and hope to be able to share with one and all what
I've been doing the last 25 years. Some time this summer????
Over the last 4 years I've learned that there are no two sculptors alike. I
have benefited from all the different viewpoints, and I appreciate you all.
George Graham