"Loon Raft"

That is beautiful!

Loons are one of my favorite birds

I loved it up there.  There was a little lake called Buck Lake that was connected to Leech Lake, too.  Had a monster granddaddy Musky in it that we always tried to catch.  Never did, though.  He didn't get that big being stupid!

Wish I could be half as good as that!

Beautiful carving of beautiful birds.

Incredible work! Can you tell us more about where you got the rough material? And we won't let you off the hook without a few words about tools and techniques!

The material is Honeycomb Calcite, hardness of three to four found in Utah.  I was able to ship this stone from 2sculpt.com who have a shipping service.  The cost of stone is only a few dollars a pound but shipping is high.  The best bet is to order a size to fit the large postal box at a fixed rate of 19 dollars plus a twenty dollar cutting fee.

After finishing this piece I started a larger one but suspect I will move back to smaller more valuable stone to work.  Limestone is fun but not really a great finish.

As to technique, the process is totally abrasion with diamond based tools.  First is a rough out with the 4.5 angle grinder and a flush mounting diamond combination cutting grinding wheel.  Next is a die grinder with a 1 inch diamond burr cylinder with a grit of 35, and a smaller 2 inch diamond cutting/grinding wheel.  When the contours are within about a 1/4 inch of the finish surface I switch to Dremel bits.  I have the complete set of fifty large burrs from Jadecarver.com in 35 grit, 200 grit, and 400 grit.  I will get 600 grit with my next sale.  I also have the small 50 kit in 400 grit and will get another 600 grit kit.

Once the piece has been shaped as desired, the sanding process is used to create a finish.  It is always a trade off between polishing and losing detail so often detail is added after sanding removes it.  The process continues from 80 grit to get the last scratches out, through 120 grit, 220 grit, 400 grit, 600 grit, 800 grit, 1500 grit, and finally aluminum oxide polish.  I have tried mechanized sanding but got uneven results compared to hand sanding.

On the artistic side, the process is one of imaging what is inside the stone.  I average about one hour of staring at the piece for every hour I spend carving.  In general the content is imagined and surface material is removed to get closer to the content.  The subject was determined before hand but the details are allowed to emerge as needed to make the piece fit and stay in balance.  The symmetry of the art piece is constantly compared and made visually equal from side to side or what ever other symmetry can be found.  There are mistakes along the way that require modifications to the original plans.  On this piece, for example,  without noticing I gouged 1/4 inch into a finished wing shape while my attention was focused elsewhere.  After nearly dying of fear the piece was ruined the wing was lowered to match the error.  Loons sit low in the water and sitting a little lower didn't hurt in this case.  I can see it as I look at it, but it looks like the loon is leaning a bit and it is not unnatural.

Composition is a key issue for this type of carving.  I found no single picture to go by, this is a composition of a number of real loon images.  The idea for me is to create a real scene from life with the action or intent obvious in the attitude or positions of the body.  Just as in real life I am apposed to posing, so these need to be involved in realistic activity, not just static.  I could spend another year on the details of this one piece, but I suspect the pool of buyers would get too small if I ask a small fortune for a piece of rock.