Mar
8
Written By
kenh
Thursday, 8 March 2007
When you read the dimensions of a block of stone on paper, then see the block in real life, there a couple different reactions that can happen.
One reaction or thought that goes through your head is something like this.
“ Gee that block of stone is smaller that I thought’
Or you can have the opposite reaction.
“Gee that block of stone looks enormous”.
Judging from the low volume curses and looks of disbelief on the many faces, the second reaction was the most common on the opening morning of the third National Limestone Sculpture Symposium in Mount Gambier.
Forty Six artists, roughly divided fifty- fifty male and female converged on the Old Mount Gambier Goal and its precinct to chip, saw, rasp, grind and chisel their way through some hefty blocks of local coralline limestone, and the much harder local red dolomite. There were representatives from most states of Australia and two international visitors, Maggie Jones and her partner John from Kansas in the USA.
The symposium site next to the Goal was divided into workspaces by erecting Marquee tents so that groups of four sculptors could work in the shade at one time. Each artist with their allotted stone and tools had access to power and compressed air (for air hammers and grinders) and some much needed shade in which to work. The Mount Gambier Rotary Club worked tirelessly to keep the site free of debris, which really helped everyone maintain a safe work environment.
One of the features of this symposium was the hard stone carving master classes run by Sylvio Apponi. Sylvio is a very experienced stonemason and sculptor from Adelaide. Sylvio ran the classes in a central area using the local red dolomite to provide more that enough challenges for the participants who elected to take on the material. The red dolomite is not quite as hard as Sydney Sandstone and has a course grain but can take a beautiful lustre when polished. It looks similar to red granite when worked in this way.
I was lucky enough to be funded to attend the Symposium by a quick response grant from Commonwealth Regional Art Fund; this funding enabled me to further my professional development as a sculptor working in hard stone.
This year’s guest artists were Graig Medson from Malany in Qld and Siv Grava and John Turpie from Elliston in South Australia. Craig worked with the difficult white Dolomite and Sive and John worked with the limestone.
After the initial shock of siting the large blocks of limestone, some were two meters by 1 meter by one meter, the question is asked
“ How to work such a size block?”
Coralline limestone is relatively soft, and after a demonstration by Ivo Tadic, the local Mount Gambier chainsaw wielding sculptor, the sales of electric chainsaws at the local hardware store must have made the manager grin from ear to ear. From that moment on dust and blocks of limestone were flying. Every woman who could muster the energy and cash for a small chainsaw bought one and used it. The scale of the work was truly amazing considering the experience of some of the participants. Pam Proctor from Wangaratta who is a jeweller tackles a work well over two meters high.
Not all the work was large, most of the red dolomite work was on a smaller scale, and had to be sculpted with tungsten chisel’s or air chisels or angle grinders equipped with diamond blades. Polishing the dolomite with diamond pads brought out the character of the stone, and provided a contrast to the chalky natural surfaces on the limestone pieces.
Guest artist Craig Medson presented a seminar on Tuesday evening along with environmental sculptor Greg Johns, a highlight of the symposium. Wednesday evening saw us touring the limestone quarry site and receive a most interesting talk on the geology of the area. Catering by the Rotary Club of Mount Gambier was superb and the provision of three meals a day on site was nothing short of an amazing effort by the service club.
The Symposium was organised by country Arts S.A. under the leadership of Jill Mclean, with the city of Mount Gambier as a major partner. The organization of this year’s symposium was extremely professional. Major innovations such as the shade and clean up teams made for a smooth running and highly creative atmosphere. Look at your calendar for the event in 2009, I can highly recommend it.
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