Abstraction in Stone

Basic Sculpture: Abstraction in Stone
Orange Alabaster
Wooden base
Approx. 5" x 5" x 2"
(Rasps, blood, sweat, and tears)

Another first for me. I have never carved or sculpted a stone before, until now. I had always wondered how sculptures were done in the ancient times. They were chiseled and shaped. And now I understand and have a much greater respect for those artists who sculpted in stone. This process was soooo slow and repetitive, but none the less, I did enjoy it. Watching it transform from a dirty, rough rock to a smooth wave-form was pretty neat. 

Basically, I used a  small cheese grater to scrape and scratch away at the rock, little by little to create the form that I wanted. After I had the form, I took wet/dry sandpaper and scratched, scrape the surface until it was as smooth as a baby's bottom. The problems that I encountered during the process were that I had veins of dirt throughout my rock, which were unplanned and caused my final form to look a little different from what I imagined. There are a few 'cuts' in the rock where I had to clean out the dirt in the veins and smooth it out. Finally, I used a sealant on the alabaster to bring out the color and to prevent future weathering on the stone.