Hand Carved Marble

Marble, 20x9x9.5 inches.

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Marble Carving

My arms would be white with marble dust, little pieces like giant flakes of dandruff spotted my hair, my shirt pocket would fill up like a miniature sand bag. Chunks of marble flew in every direction landing as much as 30 feet away. Sometimes a piece would rocket past my ears buzzing like a huge bumble bee does when it is uncomfortably close. At the end of the day when the light dimmed, my Unghietto chisel would send out sparks in this physical battle between my idea and the stone.

Marble, what a perfect material to make a human figure from. Did the Masters know that this crystallized rock is composed of calcium carbonate and that carbon compounds are the source of living organisms ? And did they know that calcium is the most abundant mineral in the human body? Like people, marble bruises and sometimes the figure will break in two if you hit a vein wrong. When carving, you are not just concerned with taking too much off or having it break on you after hours of work, but you are hopeful that the "Art Gods" will not leave you with nasty unbecoming veins on the surface when you reach the final plains of your figure. Like the snow, and we humans, marble has a translucent quality that is in itself breath taking.

T. J. Hogan

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