The initial idea for my sculptures comes from either a vision in my mind which I use as a base while also allowing the influence of the stone to be brought forth in the shaping of the piece. Or quite often the stone will reveal what it has hidden inside waiting to be revealed. I like to have my rough stones laid out and I will often go view them, turning them to different positions until I see what it is I am to carve. I believe most of my ideas come from the subconscious mind "listening" to the stones and working on compositions.

I use a variety of tools on each piece, sculptures usually start off by roughing out with a 16" gas powered diamond cut off saw. This is followed by hammers and chisels, angle grinders, die grinders, hand files and finally hand sanding and polishing.

I start off by drawing the rough shape on to the stone and marking the largest pieces I can cut off to save for future sculptures.

The bear has now been roughed out with the cut off saw and angle grinders. The stone I am carving is Chlorite and will turn out to be almost jet black when finished.

Now I am starting to work the shape with hand files

Now that the bears features have been established I begin to shape the stone for the landscape portion of the sculpture. In this case it is a wonderful piece of mottled green B.C. Serpentine.

Further carving and refining of the shapes of both stones and the fitting and interaction of the bear with the landscape are now done. Some areas of the Serpentine are to be left rough and some polished. Depending on the stone I will either polish or use a clear wax or oil. Generally softer stones are oiled or waxed and hard stones are polished.

I use steel rods and glue to hold the stones together, felt is put on the base so it will not scratch the surface it is displayed on. The piece is now ready for the customer or gallery