While the Northeast of the USA was sweltering, the weather in the Jotunheimen mountains of Norway was bracing. Cold winds and cloudy skies for the Turtagtrø dry stone walling workshop had me and the participants glad for some vigorous physical activity to stay warm. Of course, for the Norwegians it qualified as mild weather. As Morten gleefully pointed out, “If it’s not snowing, it must be summer!”
Read MoreDue to a number of structural problems, an eight-year-old, dry stone retaining wall in Hanover, New Hampshire was dangerously close to collapsing. I was asked by the property owner to remedy the situation. The rebuilding of a 6’x30’ section of retaining wall is often a straightforward business. But because this wall was in a well established, backyard garden with poor access and little room to store materials at the site, the build was a logistical puzzle. Concern was added to those challenges when, as work commenced, a municipal sewer line was discovered to be located scarily close to the back of the wall.
Read MoreHere’s a little secret about building a dry stone wall on a busy construction site: work on the holiday. I spent the Memorial Day weekend constructing a seating wall for the Hall Art Foundation in Reading, Vermont. While packs of touring motorcyclists occasionally rumbled past on Route 106, bird song was the predominant sound track. No distractions from the other contractors, who are busy there on the weekdays, meant I could concentrate on the task at hand. I built two sections of wall beside one of the galleries at Vermont’s newest art museum.
Read MoreThe difference between stone and rock is that rock only becomes stone when it gains employment. Whether fixed or loose, rock belongs to the earth. When humans pick it up and turn it to a use it becomes stone. There are many ways to make the transformation. Here are two examples.
Read MoreOver the past few months I’ve been a guest speaker and adviser to senior students in the architecture department. Their thesis project was to develop a program, and design the buildings and grounds for The Water House, a destination spa and environmental education center being built in western Massachusetts. The studio was sponsored by the New England distributor of Marvin windows, A.W. Hastings. Prizes were offered to the top three designs, judged by me and and a dozen other landscape professionals and regional architects.
Read MoreAfter the tragic events to our south in Boston at the start of last week it was heartening to end it on Saturday with a positive note. Nine candidates came to The Stone Trust facility at Scott Farm for DSWA craftsman certification tests. After seven hours of intense walling activity, passing marks were awarded to Level 1 and 3 participants by the DSWA examiners; myself and Chris Tanguay. Candidates came from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and Newfoundland, Canada to test their dry stone construction skills against what are recognized to be among the most rigorous standards found anywhere in the world. Congratulations to all!
Read MoreDriving on the left side of the road, rubber sink-stoppers on a chain, grilled tomatoes for breakfast; these are some of the things to get used to, quickly, when on a six-day visit to the UK. I was there to take part in the DSWA Standardization and Assessment weekend for craftsman scheme examiners. Along the way, E. and I took in two of the three legs of the “Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle.”
Read MoreWhile the Standardization can be a bit stressful and nerve wracking at times, I look forward to reuniting with a great group of professional wallers.
Read MoreThe age-old skill of constructing in dry stone is still alive today and being practiced by a growing number of professional wallers. Two weeks from now, a team of DSWA certified craftsmen from around the region will meet at the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds in Essex Junction, to create a unique feature (scale model in photo) for the upcoming Vermont Flower Show.
Read MoreA distant foghorn, waves lapping against the harbor shore and the “blow” from a humpback whale surfacing in the bay; these are the sounds that often greet visitors coming to English Harbour, Newfoundland. This summer’s workshop goal will be to create a companion piece to the “Mock Maze” that was built in 2012. Participants will collaborate on creating a design, and then construct it on the grounds of the art center.
Read MoreEvery baker knows it takes good ingredients to make a tasty pie. Now that plans for the dry stone workshop at Turtagrø, Norway have come together, I can see that our week in July is going to be a fantastic time. We have a beautiful setting, excellent accommodations and an abundance of building stone. All that’s missing are a few more enthusiastic folks to sign up and meet us at Tutagrø. I hope you will be the one who completes the pie!
Read MoreThe best two days in the life of a dry stone project are the first and the last. The first day is full of anticipation about how the great unknown will reveal itself. The course of the work has been formulated in the mind, but the process that will lead to an end only begins when an actual stone is laid. That initial stone sets in motion a chain-reaction of events, a series of choices that ultimately determine the character of the finished work.
Read MoreMy project this month is the construction of a series of retaining walls for an existing perennial garden. A brook trickles from the bank at the top of the garden and flows through a channel between two of the new walls. The grotto will become an ice cavern in winter months and a cool, shady retreat in the heat of summer.
Read MoreThis is the season of color and light. Sunbeams stream through disrobed forest canopy, illuminating leaf-confettied ground. At this time of year the great outdoors acts like a psychedelic on my mind. Bathed in the kaleidoscope colors of autumn, I believe wishes can come true. Ever since the Dummerston town pound was recreated three years ago by 44, dry stone workshop participants, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of it being used to impound some real, live farm animals.
Read MoreEach morning a pair of loons fly from the high forest pond behind the house to the wide ocean bay at the bottom of the road. In the evening they make a return flight. They punctuate their daily routines with an intermittent call and response, stuttering laughs that draws me out onto the deck to watch them wing past. This is high entertainment in the TV and internet-free environment I’ve been living in the past two weeks. The radio here is powered by a hand crank. After five minutes of broadcast the signal cuts out and I have to decide if the listening is worth the effort to recharge the battery.
Read MoreWe must have done something right in a former life to get so lucky with the week’s weather during the recently completed English Harbour Arts Centre (EHAC) dry stone workshop. Seven participants from two provinces and three states worked under nearly rain-free skies for five days designing and building long-lasting walls and ephemeral art. Some of us even took a dip in the bay; a rare occurrence in Newfoundland waters.
Read MoreWhen I began building stone features on Richard Epstein’s property more than ten years ago he had a unformed, but long term vision of the space around his cabin. He wanted to keep the sequestered feel of being in the deep woods. He also wanted to armor the slopes surrounding his home with stone. To this end, we began by building a sunken patio to the southeast with stepped paths leading to a pond. A few years later, a raised pyramid, fire pit patio was created to the northeast. Stone steps replaced wood stairs at porch entrances.
Read More"Working hands inform thought and awaken understanding of the art builder's place in the natural world. Undulant lines and patterned spaces are the result of many choices made by the builder who recognizes, and utilizes, the unique character of stone"
- Dan Snow
