Process of creating a stone sculpture



Sometimes I have an idea and look for a suitable stone, more often I find a stone that speaks to me and hints at what it wants to be. Such was the case with Karibu Troli, the Guardian at the Bridge.



Karibu Troli - Process



Where we end up - Karibu Troli, the Guardian at the Bridge. To pass, we must answer three riddles or Karibu will have us for lunch.



Where we started - the raw stone. A broken splinter discarded by Lovejoy Granite stone cutters over a century ago.



It's convex on this side, flat on the other side, with a very sharp edge. We can still see drill holes from the original split attempt.



Step 1 - sketching basic design with a sharpie. Sometimes I use chalk or pencil first, but they can be obliterated during cut-in.



Step 2 is scoring the sketch with a diamond blade before starting the roughing-in of Step 3 (shown here).



Step 4 - Adding detail to the headdress.



Back to Step 3 - roughing in the body.



Step 5 - grinding to remove the rough surface and shape the body.



My original carving station was a crude set of tarps lashed to a frame of saplings. Kept the snow off the carving table, mostly.



Step 6 - further refinement of features, the eye, the teeth and lips, cheekbones, nose.



Now the hard part: Step 7 - mirror the design on the reverse. This is complicated because it is convex here, where the obverse is a flat surface. Misalignments = quirk. That's okay.



Step 8 - scoring in the design on the reverse prior to roughing-in.



Step 9 - roughing in the reverse. The drill hole remnants represent an additional challenge on this side. More quirk.



Step 10 - grinding and refining the reverse.



Step 11 - Shaping the face and cutting in the headdress on the reverse.



Shaping done, so transporting to the house, to wash and inspect. Have left part of base with original patina showing its age.



Step 12 - Bucket bath in driveway - giving Karibu a wet look. This removes stone dust in prep for adding a stone sealer.



Drying out in the mudroom, checking for level (i.e. will it stand on base without tipping over?). Not liking the blocky teeth.



Softened the teeth a bit by adding some beveling.



Step 13 - Applying 3 coats of Black Diamond stone sealer.



Step 14 - Choosing a site near the wooden bridge to the quarry for the guardian.



Cutting in and leveling a flat surface to take the sculpture. A 12" stainless steel 5/8" pin will be countersunk 6" into the bedrock.



Transport Karibu to the sculpture site.



Step 15 - Install sculpture by lowering Karibu onto stainless steel pin and shimming to make it level and plumb.



Karibu Troli - means "Welcome Troll" in Swahili.



Backlit by the afternoon sun on the east wall of the quarry at Stonehaven.



Head on - shows how thin Karibu is, carved from a splinter of bedrock from a split that went wrong around 100 years ago.



Karibu will ask travelers 3 riddles which they must answer correctly to cross over the bridge.



In April 2023, Karibu was selected by the Meredith Sculpture Walk jury to be included in the 2023/2024 season. So it's off to work!



Packed in with all the tools I think I might need to install Karibu in Meredith. Had to fashion a steel base plate for mounting.



The Meredith team mustered a large crew to help install Karibu in the Courtyard on Main, bolting the base plate on a concrete pad.



Karibu sporting some tats on his backside.



Standing in the Courtyard next to the storyboard I made to display my artist's statement and three sets of 3 riddles.



Artist's Statement. Sometimes writing these can be more challenging than creating the sculpture.



First set of 3 Riddles - the easy ones. The QR codes hold the answers. Next two pages hold two more sets of riddles that get harder.



Visitors viewing Karibu Troli in Meredith where the Jury has selected Karibu to exhibit for a second year, through April 2025.





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