I have always collected “curious
rocks”. Conglomerates like the stone this heart is carved from were
among the first things I picked up, usually out of creek beds. At the
time I thought they were gravel that was used in some man-made
product like asphalt or concrete that had broken, been thrown away,
and then weathered into the curiously mixed odd shapes. Little did I
imagine back then they were river or ocean gravel that many millions
of years ago had settled within an iron oxide mud like limonite or
hematite and were fused underground with great pressure for many
millions of years only to resurface again usually in riverbed gravel
or out of a gravel pit like this piece I carved into a heart.
This material is irrational to carve
and even more difficult to polish. When I first suggested that I was
going to use it for sculptures, other lapidary artist told me the
stone was unworkable and would only ruin the tools or other material
that was mixed with it while tumbling. This piece is an excellent
example of that not being true. It is true that only a select few
conglomerate carvings survive to completion. Perhaps it requires a
certain aesthetic to fully appreciate such a carving, but I think
this amazing example of what is possible speaks for itself. This is
as difficult, rare, and odd as carving and polishing stone gets.
Wonderful to contemplate and to hold as it oozes the energy
geological forces invested in its creation. Every curious rock
collector needs one.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/130050282/curious-conglomerate-hand-carved-river
