Art and the Working Landscape

Cultivated land is a handmade environment. Over the past two centuries, the rural face of Vermont has been shaped by farm life. While the stone walls built during that time have lost their stature as livestock fences, their presence has become a defining characteristic of the land. A dry laid stone wall, that has stood the test of time, is praised for its practicality, durability and craftsmanship. The close attention farmers pay to their surroundings is comparable to the awareness artists bring to their work. As a medium of expression, dry stone construction is a logical choice for an artist working in the landscape.

Event Postponed - Working With Stone: Creating A Connection With The Spirit Of Place

The gardener's perspective is the perfect loci for seeking inward and reaching outward, for ordering the experience of time and space, and observing higher orders. Garden makers and stone workers channel the power of nature through their imagination where it is interpreted and transformed through action.

Artscaping: Design and Installation of Land-made Sculpture

This Thursday I will be at New England Grows! in Boston to present Artscaping: Design and Installation of Land-made Sculpture. The talk will be accompanied by slides detailing the process of identifying the artistic possibilities of outdoor space. Case studies of built works, from conception in 3-D scale models to finished installations, will be highlighted. For those looking to move their landscape horizons beyond the next hill, please join me for this entertaining and thought provoking presentation.

Dry Stone Walling, Environmental Art, LectureDan SnowJanuary 31, 2011art, artscaping, lecture, new england grows, stone, stoneworks

The Sheep Shed

The Sheep Shed resides at the convergence of two paths trodden into the hillside by many generations of sheep hooves. Three dry stone walls, built from cobbles and boulders selected from a gravel pit, support oak timbers. A light weight network of spruce log poles rests on the frame. In ascending layers, thick slabs of flat stone from a quarry in Goshen, Massachusetts cover the pole rafters. The roof stones are not affixed in any way. They are held in place by the sheer weight of their collective mass. Twenty tons of stone float over the void of the sheep shed interior.

Rice Mountain Stonework

Art, Environmental Art, Garden, Sculpture, StoneDan SnowJuly 1, 2009art, garden, stone, stoneworks