Crystal River Stone Carvings

Last summer I added an element to my stone carving process where I would create what I call stone "sketches." I would pick out small chunks of marble from the Crystal River and make little sculptures with them. Most of the time I used hand tools (rasps and files) to define the shapes. And I would work quickly, not spending too much time fretting over the design or idea. They were a good source of inspiration for my larger sculptures.

Before I left Marble last summer, I buried some of the small carvings that I had created. I wanted to see what they would look like after a year of being underground. I unearthed three of them this year, not remembering that I had buried four. The pourous marble had absorbed some of the dirt. I really enjoyed revisiting these sculptures and seeing how they had changed while I was away from them. And I also created more "sketches" that I used as a source of inspiration for my work this year.

On the day I left Colorado to come home this year, I placed the four sculptures pictured above into the Crystal River. I'm eager to see what they look like next year.