The Stone Sculptor
Jason P. Nelson
Work In Progress
Jason Nelson at Sax Point Park in Victoria, March 09
The Stone Sculptor always has a few
" works in progress".   Sometimes, Jason will go back
and make changes to a sculpture years after it was
originally "abandoned".

Current projects include a commissioned sculpture
 
of a Blue Whale cow and calf, a second octopus
carving and a commissioned Memorial.  

The
Blue Whale cow and calf sculpture is Jason's
largest and most technically challenging project to
date.  It will measure about 38 x 22 x 20 inches,
including the base and weigh over 300 lbs.  It is
made from Turkish Blue/Grey Marble.  The eyes will
be Black Tourmaline and the base is  Brucite.

"Octopus #2", is an Alabaster carving that he started
in 2008, during a Stone Sculpting Demonstration at

The Green Oak Gallery
.

Work has just begun on "Memorial for Rochelle
Headrick"
.  It will be the first headstone made by
Jason.  It will be made from dark-green Serpentine.
Raw Stone; Turkish Marble and Canadian Chlorite
Troy Nelson with sculpting stone.
Here are some pictures of the Turkish Marble that
Jason used to sculpt the Blue Whale cow and calf.  
The starting weight was 604 lbs.  Getting this rock out
of his truck and into his studio, using a mechanics
crane, was not easy.
Turkish Marble, after a little bit of trimming.
To the left is a picture of the
stone after a little bit of
trimming with a diamond blade
mounted on a pneumatic angle
grinder. A larger, gas powered
cut-off saw, would have
sped-up the trimming process.  
Other items on The Stone
Sculptors wish-list are some
real slings (using his
homemade ones makes him a
little bit nervous), and a
pneumatic hammer and chisel.  
These tools would make
working on large scale projects
much easier.     
Jason always strives to fully utilise the dimensions of each piece of stone that he works with.  
With this particular piece of marble, one of the challenges was working with a hole that was
drilled through the piece, before he received it.  This drill-hole would eventually be enlarged
and became the space between the cow and calf.  Jason used a combination of traditional,
hand-held hammer and chisels, and pneumatic power tools to "rough-out", this sculpture.    
Blue Whale Cow and Calf Sculpture, after about 55 hours of work.
Father and son wet-sanding a marble sculpture of a Blue whale
The picture to the left shows
the mother whale, after about
110 hours of work.  The two
whales have been separated,
so that the symmetry of both
could be improved and to
make them easier to work on
and transport.  The sanding
process has begun; this stage
usually takes at least 1/3 of
the total time required to
complete a sculpture.  Jason
uses a combination of wet/dry
sanding paper, rubber-bonded
abrasives and diamond-mesh
compound.  
Fine Art Sculpture in Marble, Alabaster and Soapstone
⚡️ Near & Far ⚡️
Canada
Mobile:
(807) 621-6740
E-mail: jason@thestonesculptor.com


"Art is never finished, only abandoned."
-Leonardo da Vinci
The Stone Sculptor wet sanding a serpentine memorial.
In this picture, Jason is working on the uppermost section of "Memorial for Rochelle".  He is
using a resin-bonded diamond sanding pad, mounted on his pneumatic sander/polisher.  
The sanding process is starting to reveal the dark green colour of the serpentine.