Stone hunting for The Tarriance sculpture project recently took me on a 1,300 mile, Oregon road trip. The trail led across dry shrub-lands, over evergreen-spired mountain passes, and along deep river gorges.

In the west, three basalt boulders were located in a riverside gravel pit. In the east, slag from an abandoned granite quarry netted the thirty pieces I’ll use to construct the “raft” that the boulders will rest upon.

Early in the trip, meetings with Central Oregon Community College art committee members, the contractor for the new science building and Bend city officials established the relationships I will be depending on to build the piece when I return in August. Many thanks to Dave, Rick and Mark for making The Tarriance, and me, feel welcome at COCC.  

Brian at Empire Stone Company and Dan at Alpine Boulder Company led me to their special stone stashes in the Oregon back-country. The final success of The Tarriance will owe much to their generosity of time and material.

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