Sandblasting vs. lettercutting by hand (For Whom the Bill Toils

["George Graham" <georgergraham@zzzzzzzzzzz>]

Ian,
I like to think that none on this list feel trapped in working in stone. If
one is then they won't be working in stone much longer, for if you don't
love the medium and the process you will move on to another medium.
I don't measure a successful day by how many pounds of stone are removed
 from my sculpture, and I'm sure a letter carver does not measure their
success by how many letters were carved in a given time. When I'm talking to
a customer about doing a duplicate molding , I speak in terms of dollars per
foot because that is what he understands. If I said that I love the feel of
a sharp chisel cutting into the stone, and that the process of finishing one
form just makes me want to do another , and that if I didn't have to come up
with rent money, I'd probably do it for free, my customer would say, that's
nice, now could you do the job for a few dollars less per foot?
I've cut lettering by hand, air tools, and sandblasting, and each method
requires a great deal  of skill to do a good job, and I have the same
feeling of pride and pleasure over a job well done no matter how it is done.
I gather that you are not impressed by granite as a material that can be
easily and happily worked on. I hope that  you will give it a chance. It is
a stone that will teach you more about how to learn a new medium then any I
know of. Granite is easy to carve and shape if you learn how. The hard
stones do not conform to you, you must learn and adapt. It forces you to see
what does and does not work, and to eliminate what in not essential to art.
I don't toil for the bell, it plays for me!
Thanks,
George Graham
http://www.grahamsculpturestudio.com