Stone Carving
How to Commission a Marble Sculpture
A marble sculpture is an original work of art, made by human hands that will last for millennia. The quality of the work depends on careful planning and tremendous patience. How does a work of marble sculpture come to be?
Read MoreInstalling Marble Sculptures, Part III
They picked up the marble sculpture and plaster carver’s model from the US Customs inspection office in New York, trucked it down to Potomac, placed the stone and finished the job by dinner time. These big events tend to build in your mind and then they happen. Just like that, they happen on an ordinary day. A Thursday, for example.
Read MoreInstalling Marble Sculptures, Part II
Sure, I designed the sculpture and sculpted it, but without the help of several models, the mold-maker and enlarger, Malcolm the stone-carver and his crew, and Andrew and the crew at Canal Street Studios, and not to mention the generous donor who has been gracious enough to give such a lasting gift to the church- none of this would have happened.
Read MoreInstalling Marble Sculptures
How many people does it take to move a two-ton sculpture of the Blessed Virgin out of the studio, onto a truck, drive sixty-five miles down the road and into a niche in a church? We had quite a crew out there!
Read MoreHow to Commission a Sculpture
Have you imagined commissioning a sculpture?
Let’s say your family, a church, or organization wants to commission of a work of sculpture, but you have no idea where to begin or how to proceed. Here I will describe the process that I use in my studio.
Read MoreInstalling the Blessed Virgin Mary
How many people does it take to move a two-ton sculpture of the Blessed Virgin out of the studio, into a truck, sixty-five miles down the road and into a niche in a church?
Read MoreStone and Letter Carver
I am very excited that Gary Churchman has stumbled upon my blog. He is a stone and letter carver, living in England. (Check out his blog!) While I do most of my work in plastiline clay and make casts, I am particularly interested in stone carving and stone sculptures. I had the most exhilarating moment of…
Read MoreNine Tons of Marble
This weekend in 2004, I imported nine tons of marble from Carrara, Italy. It would become the Virgin Annunciate. Even eight years later, it’s still incredible. ——————- Sarah Hempel Irani, Sculptor www.HempelStudios.com info@hempelstudios.com
Read MoreQ & A Friday: Clay to Stone
One of the most frequently asked questions I get in the studio is “how do you get this from clay to stone?” It’s a long answer that usually involves me getting out a diagram, an Italian stone carver, and a math textbook to explain it all. So, I thought that I would try to explain it here…
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