NGC What I do- Dormered Marble Capital

[cliffrod]

The only Guzzi content is that this is how I pay for Guzzi parts & everything else.   It's a Vaulted Apex Top Dormered Capital, carved from Colorado Yule Marble to reproduce a circa 1875 Carrara Marble memorial.   Very cool and sublime finishing project that shipped about a year ago, but I'm just getting to doing the video for my YouTube channel.  Stoked about the video and figured some here might like it as much as we did. 

https://youtu.be/Z_s-Z2ytgJY

[LowRyter]

 

amazing

[Ncdan]

Wow!

[RinkRat II]

       Truly Pure Talent.  Thanks for sharing your skills.

          Paul B

[siabeid]

Great work! What a fantastic way to make a living!

[cliffrod]

Thanks for the kind words, guys but don't worry about compliments.  if it makes you smile or stretches your head a little, that's all that matters. 

This job is still particularly bewildering for my wife and I to watch on video.  It was all about boring, tedious, monotonous and deliberate work that simply works when done properly.  No better ideas to try, just do what you were taught to do & are supposed to do and it just happens.   It's way beyond very cool.

[Canuck750]

That is a beautiful piece!

Thank you for sharing, I had no idea how you carved stone, especially a piece as complex as this. The skill and patience it must take to turn out such a perfect appearance is exceptional, I really appreciate seeing these ancient skills being utilized today, I tip my hat sir!

Jim

[StuCorpe]

  :thumb:Beautifull

[balvenie]

How incredibly complicated

With your permission, I will share it on Twitter.

[cliffrod]

How incredibly complicated

With your permission, I will share it on Twitter.

share as you like.  I don't do anything other than YouTube .  Things move too slow around here.

[Ncdan]

Clint, you told me but I forgot. Refresh my memory. How many stone carvers are there in the US on your level? It’s not bragging it’s just factual.

[Scout63]

I’ve never thought about how monuments are carved.  That was very interesting and even more impressive.

[balvenie]

share as you like.  I don't do anything other than YouTube .  Things move too slow around here.

Thank you

[chuck peterson]

Great video thanks!

Sooo much detail to consider for what looks like amazingly clean simple design

My favorite quote from carpenters is, “if you cut it twice it’ll still be too short “….

That certainly applies here

I’d be the one chipping a 1/16th too far..

Great stuff! I may have to cruise a cemetery…

[tazio]

Great video thanks!
...
Great stuff! I may have to cruise a cemetery…

YES!
It's amazing how so many of lifes lessons can be observed with a respectful stroll through a cemetary.
Clint has shown us yet another example.

[JBU]

Hi Cliffrod, I'm a full time sculptor as well and I'm based in NC.  Been at it for 25 years.  I work mostly in wood, some bronze too.  Several years ago I was approached by the owner of a large stone company (walkerzanger) and he had a couple of my sculptures produced in granite and marble.  They were done in Spain.  What I learned about the experience is that stone is VERY HEAVY.   Nice to know there are guzzi artists out there.
Joël

[lucian]

Very impressive piece of work Cliffrod! You have truly mastered your craft. You clearly have had to make a lot of sacrifices to focus on your trade and develop your skills to such a high level. The blood blister under your thumb nail speaks volumes , even though you may have just slammed it in the car door   Your mentors would be very proud to see what you are capable of now.  Thanks for posting

[Iron Cross Junction]

The only Guzzi content is that this is how I pay for Guzzi parts & everything else.   It's a Vaulted Apex Top Dormered Capital, carved from Colorado Yule Marble to reproduce a circa 1875 Carrara Marble memorial.   Very cool and sublime finishing project that shipped about a year ago, but I'm just getting to doing the video for my YouTube channel.  Stoked about the video and figured some here might like it as much as we did. 

https://youtu.be/Z_s-Z2ytgJY

The word "awesome" has, sadly, been devalued of late to nothing by overuse.  Yet, at least in its former robust self, it is the right word to describe what you do and, in particular, did here for the Campbell family.

Thank you for sharing your inspiring and noble work.

YES!
It's amazing how so many of lifes lessons can be observed with a respectful stroll through a cemetary.
Clint has shown us yet another example.

Exactly. 

Bill

[fotoguzzi]

Nice but what I'd like to see are you actually doing the sculpting not just the finished piece.

[cliffrod]

Thank you everyone.  The good words are much appreciated. 

Nice but what I'd like to see are you actually doing the sculpting not just the finished piece.

There's content like that in my other project videos.  I think sped-up time-lapse efforts demean the process, so I don't do it.  Stone carving (especially granite) is so slow, especially at certain stages, that most people simply don't have the time or interest to watch the whole thing.  That's a big reason I don't do social media.  People want eye candy & feedback right now or it's not worth their time.  Many times the "slowest" work is the most significant but only an expert or professional can perceive the progress.  For instance, each carbide chisel needs resharpening after every 5-10 min of use when carving granite so a carbide chisel is completely exhausted in 1-2 hrs of use.  I spend so much time stepping away from the work to sharpen tools, continuous video is impractical. Marble is so soft I sharpened my chisels at the start and carved this entire capital job over 3 wks without resharpening them.  Compared to stone (what we call granite, because it's the benchmark stone in our business), You work so fast you have to slow down to pay attention.  No matter, The faster I finish, the better the paycheck.

When I'm done, the stone just tells the truth about what I've done.  That's all it says.  It's a statement, not an opinion.  No excuses no bs no bondo no glue no quick do-overs.... it is what it is.  Critics can do better or be quiet.

I have two more videos in production for this same project.  One has 100+ still images showing the entire process from start to finish.  even at a 2-3 seconds per image, its a long video for me to watch.   Maybe you'll like that slideshow better.  Even though I have a number of videos on my channel with live-action carving being shown, it's still just a token glimpse of the process.  Some things are not shown or divulged on purpose because the process is secret.

Clint, you told me but I forgot. Refresh my memory. How many stone carvers are there in the US on your level? It’s not bragging it’s just factual.

"We" only consider real Granite-industry-trained professionals  and a handful of self-trained but industry-employed persons to be in our ranks.  The USA Granite sculptor colony (not some hippie commune, just the geographical concentration) is in Barre VT and has been since the late 1800's.  People my age (almost 55)- Heather, Gampo, Chris, Ryan, Young Giuliano, Kenny.  Older people in 60's & 70's+- my cousin Andy, Jerry, Eric, Giuliano, Stanley. These people are all in the Barre market full or part time.   Vyktor may still be carving up near Chicago, haven't spoken with him in years.  I'm now officially the last sculptor working via Elberton, GA.  That's about a dozen of "us", the peers we recognize as competent experts & real competition, in a nation of 330M people.....   There are a few self-trained carvers around inventing it as they go along & a few who spent time in Barre that have a hobby connection, but that's that's like saying a neighborhood shade tree mechanic who will fix your $$$MG along side a lawn mower is the equivalent a MG factory trained, tooled & backed technician.   

Stone carving (marble, limestone, architectural) is a completely different situation- lots of them, academic & vocational training programs here and abroad, and countless art people sitting around waiting for the stone to speak to them.   They typically have very low opinions about us.  btdt. But I can carve soft stone as properly & well as they can.  With very few exceptions, they can't do what I do.

There's lots about this subject on my website, so I  won't rehash it here.  This granite carving discipline typically expects that a new hire will be a $$-loss employee for approx 10 yrs while training before becoming a break-even employee.  Profitability is still far away.  Workmans Comp and liability issues, fought hard by unions to create a century, are now an obstacle to hiring anyone into this destroy-your-body trade.  I was fortunate to be a lifelong carver so I didn't start at the beginning.  I'll likely be one of the last persons to ever apprentice full time on the clock in the industry.  The  old men that taught me are dead or winding down and there's little work now because people like cheap stuff  from china & china is doing all they can to destroy our market share.  More on my website about that including the made in china big MLK memorial statue that now stands in Washington DC.  After 9/11, there was not 1 phone call about work for three months.  The Indians were already moving in before that, trying to hire one of us to go to India to train their people.  During and after the 9/11 lull, the chinese just upped their pace of quietly moving in to overwhelm the market.  20 yrs later, the things we said would happen are happening.

My Master Sculptor is currently in hospital recovering from his 5th(?) stroke in the past few months.  Giuliano will be 80 this year (btw- he really likes my Corsa Record project.)  Mike retired at the end of December.  I would like to think that what I do will not die with me.  But putting it on the web is a two edged sword.  Americans with no attention span think it's novel and romantic and "old skool". Then then try it and quit when they realize how hard it is to do at all, much less well.  Meanwhile, the chinese & indians will watch the videos to learn and perfect what they don't already know.

[Dirk_S]

When my illustration employment becomes too shaky for my confidence, I’ll come down and be your next apprentice!

[cliffrod]

Very impressive piece of work Cliffrod! You have truly mastered your craft. You clearly have had to make a lot of sacrifices to focus on your trade and develop your skills to such a high level. The blood blister under your thumb nail speaks volumes , even though you may have just slammed it in the car door   Your mentors would be very proud to see what you are capable of now.  Thanks for posting

Thanks, man.  I saw that black nail in the video. It wouldn't have been a direct injury from the stone because that's not what or where would be hit.  No matter- With my 6lb hammer, you don't miss.  Ever.

But it is from the stone.  After 20+ yrs of using hand-held pneumatic hammers, there's lots of nerve and capillary damage in my hands.  It only takes a incidental bump against a sharp/square edge to blacken a nail like that or a quick tug against an edge or cord to bust a vein (whatever) in a finger & make it immediately swell up to 2X-3X normal size.  Cold is a real problem too, so much so that it's almost impossible to carve ice anymore.  The only thing that eliminates the pain and discomfort is holding that vibrating hand machine & carving stone.  not quite Sisyphus, but pretty close. 

When my illustration employment becomes too shaky for my confidence, I’ll come down and be your next apprentice!

Sounds good but seriously, Dirk- go to lowes or home depot or similar, buy a couple of 1'x1' black granite (its from china but there's no black granite like it from the USA) and a plain dremel vibrating engraver with a few sharp points and try etching.  You will do fantastic with it right now.  It's like doing any other etching or scratchboard work, except it's infinitely more durable.  Given your talent & well-developed ability to draw, your etchings will be fantastic.  Wish I could draw like you can, but realize it takes more practice than I've committed to the process.

[tommy2cyl]

Cliffrod:  Thoroughly have enjoyed this thread and your explanations and insight.   Always appreciate taking a peak behind the curtain to gain some perspective on how the execution of a project like this takes place.  I once had a buddy explain to me that he envisioned himself as a molecule of air moving through an engine and how that helped him decide how to port and engine when trying to get more HP.  I couldn't begin to conceptualize that either as I can't with what you can do.  Plus, it would be hard for me to deal with putting in X amount of work only to discover a buried flaw or fissure in the stone and have to start over.  Only a fraction of a percent of people have that level of patience.

[fotoguzzi]

Nice, I watched some of your other videos.. great work. I liked seeing the tools and how you use them.

[cliffrod]

Thanks, man.  Knowing what you build & make, I figured you might find more interesting action content in some of them.   My video gear is pretty basic and I'm just an amateur with a camera.  I try to get a range of content.   Lighting is a bugger because too much light washes out the detail, especially on bas relief work.  Too little light is just as bad.  The dust in the studio is deadlier for $$camera gear than the flying pieces of stone.   

Now that I have an old phone to use as a camera with much more memory than anything I've ever had & better editing capacity, I'm optimistic.  Working on an actual stand for camera now to do more when I'm alone.    Hard to have someone on hand at all the right times to help shoot video because I move through work as quickly as I can.    Different times of day means lighting is sometime impossible for capturing any worthy video.

Thanks again for all the good words, everyone.  I figured this project & video might be intrinsic enough to be relevant to some here.  Glad to hear that it is.

[Ncdan]

Thanks, man.  Knowing what you build & make, I figured you might find more interesting action content in some of them.   My video gear is pretty basic and I'm just an amateur with a camera.  I try to get a range of content.   Lighting is a bugger because too much light washes out the detail, especially on bas relief work.  Too little light is just as bad.  The dust in the studio is deadlier for $$camera gear than the flying pieces of stone.   

Now that I have an old phone to use as a camera with much more memory than anything I've ever had & better editing capacity, I'm optimistic.  Working on an actual stand for camera now to do more when I'm alone.    Hard to have someone on hand at all the right times to help shoot video because I move through work as quickly as I can.    Different times of day means lighting is sometime impossible for capturing any worthy video.

Thanks again for all the good words, everyone.  I figured this project & video might be intrinsic enough to be relevant to some here.  Glad to hear that it is.

Ain’t it about cheeseburger time Client???

[pebra]

I’ve never thought about how monuments are carved.  That was very interesting and even more impressive.

Yes, a wonderful art indeed.
But at what cost to its practitioners working in the hardest materials.

Thanks, Cliffrod!

[cliffrod]

Ain’t it about cheeseburger time Client???

It seems like it should be, Danny.  But it's probably gonna be after I finish the current stone... and get the artwork  & such resolved for the next one... and fix my mothers leaking toilet or ?? That's tripled the water bill..  and fix the truck to tow the camper for spring break... and .....   

[guzziboy66]

Wow.  Very cool!  Thanks for sharing that.

[John A]

You make it sound almost easy, a sign of a master.