Every summer, Brooklyn-based stone-sculptor Stephen Shaheen and I teach a ten-day stone carving course in Carrara, Italy, home of the world-famous white marble. Regardless of your ability, we will guide you in time-tested techniques and provide unique insight into sourcing tools and materials. Our curriculum is complemented by tours to marble quarries and to points of importance in the history of Western sculpture.
Stone carving is one of the most technically demanding media, and in an age of increasing mechanisation, Italian master carvers are the few remaining vanguards of an ancient knowledge that is passed on from generation to generation in a demonstrative and oral tradition. There are no books that will adequately teach you how to carve stone. You just have to do it, and with proper guidance, you will save yourself innumerable hours filled with misdirected energy, mistakes, the formation of bad habits, purchasing the wrong tools, and procuring overpriced or compromised stone.
Stephen and I both studied stone sculpture in Italy, ourselves learning from Italian masters. We are passionate about the material and the processes by which we make our work, and it would be our pleasure to see you on one of our stone carving courses and to communicate some of that passion to you. Follow this link to the Tuscany Study website to learn more about the course content, or contact me via the contact page for more information.
Our next course begins in June 2020.