May 12

Lew Watanabe

Posted by Simon

Lew Watanabe is who I want to be when I grow up.

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He is a reknowned stone artist, has published a book and is also a really nice person.

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Fish stone

His installations are beautiful and he does fountains.

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This bench weighs about three tons and is magnificent.

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All of these pieces were on display at the LA County Arboretum in Arcadia at the annual Garden Show. Lew who is a friend of Ed Clare my electrician told me about the display and I braved the crowds last Sunday and went down to see his work and talk to him. What an inspiration. I bought a copy of his book “Master of Stone and Light” on Amazon.

Apr 25

Granite Facts

Posted by Simon

This is the last post about Elberton and the Georgia Guidestone. I promise.
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The Elberton Granite Museum was a motherload of information about granite. The companies in the Granite Industry in the area publish the Graniteer
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And in case you missed it a map of how to find it:
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Here are a few more pictures of the Georgia Guidestones
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This was a very interesting town with lots of potential and it has the guidestones that will in time grow to be an ancient shrine rather than the odd monument they appear to be now. This is not unlike what the Men of Stone are trying to accomplish.
Mar 3

Agassiz Rock

Posted by Simon

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This is a picture of Agassiz rock in Yosemite Valley taken from an article in the WSJ.  It is off the Four Mile Trail from the valley to Glacier Point and stands about 30 feet tall.  Contrary to reports and expectations it is still standing but the brush and trees have grown up aroud it so that the views are not the same as the picute above taken in 1978.  What struck me was Agassiz Rock’s remarkable resemblence to my garden fountain:

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“Art imitates nature.”

Feb 3

Stones in 2007 1

Posted by Simon

Men of Stone Method 2
Howard lifts a 500 pounder.

On Thursday the Men of Stone took three new rocks to Ventura to be drilled.

We used some new equipment, a rented engine hoist, to move the stones this time and it went as well as any stone event we have had.

Men of Stone Method 1

Maneuvering the big one.

At Art City in Ventura they have much better equipment:

Art City
Russell and the big forklift make our rock seem small.
These three new stones should make great fountains. These are their first pictures:
Stone #6
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Stone #7
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Stone #8
Stone #8 (a beautiful pink stone)
Ther is still lots of work to do on this ten year project.  This year we will try to build plinths, screens, pump systems and basins that are extremely reliable for all of the eight stones that we have in process and for an additional three.
Jan 21

The Price of Art

Posted by Simon

This is picture of the new fountain that we just installed:

Installation 2

We have about five more in various stages of completion.  The question is:  What will people pay for them?

This is a web site for a gallery that sells stone art for prices from $16,000 to $22,000:

Bentley Gallery

Our pictures are not as nice as theirs and we aren’t represented by a gallery yet but we will fix that and then…$$$.