I often get asked why I don’t use power tools, so here goes. Normally I have two or three large pieces of stone standing around in my studio.
While I’m working on one or two other sculptures, these quiet stones will just wait. Then one day out of the blue I will have to move one to my table to feel its resonance. This can be a slow process. Some weeks will go by, while I feel it’s shape, run my hands over the rough contours of its form.
One day as if by some form of alchemy the center of the rock will make itself known to me. The connection is made, the rock and I are one. While I progress on the other sculptures the new piece and I dance around each other. The stone begins to trust me to reveal it’s inner self, and I begin to believe the stone will guide me through to completion.
When we finally agree on our contract of connection, the rock is moved to a work table and we begin. The vibration of a high speed power tool, whether it be air or electricity, totally destroys this connection for me. The rock loses its energy, and vibration. I lose my belief in the stone, and myself. The connection and the joy of creation are both lost.
Edward H.