Stone Sculpture by Kelly Borsheim

Sculpture / Stone: Click on an image for more information.

Ascension Invitation:

Gymnast:

Back to Back:

The Offering:

Encounter:

Pelican Lips:

Fish Lips:

Mobius Mouth:

Zebra Lips:

Lips of Life:

Kiss Me Blue:

Yin Yang:

Stargazer:

Lips With Tie:

Marble Torso:

Torso 8:

Get Out!:

Bird:

Gemini:

Lips:

Green Venus:

Adam:

Joy:

Brian:

Sea Turtles I:

That's Amoré!:

Puffer:

Swan:

Dolphin Play:

Dolphin:

Sailin':

Rapunzel:

My Little Woman:

Flying Sea Turtles:

by Kelly Borsheim

There's just something about stone. It has beauty, solidity, and strength. It communicates timelessness, probably because of the lengthy time-span of its own creation. Even before I knew I wanted to be an artist, I was in awe of stone sculpture. When I finally started sculpting in stone in 1997, I wasn't sure I would like it. Compared to clay, creating a shape in stone seemed to take forever. I do not consider myself a patient person. I was also a little nervous about it since I did not know if I could see things in just the subtractive sense. Stone carving removes the medium; one wrong blow and my sculpture might be a total loss.

However, when I began to polish my first stone sculpture, My Little Woman, I remembered why I fell in love with stone. Rubbing my hands on the soft alabaster after each successive sanding with finer and finer papers was incredibly therapeutic. [Although I still love the polishing of stone, after creating some larger works, I decided I didn't need that much therapy!]

Michelangelo claimed that he was simply the servant or tool that removed the part of the stone that was not the sculpture. Perhaps he really thought that. I do not think so. Stone sculpture is a collaboration between stone and sculptor. I live with the rocks for a long time before I see the shapes emerge. I study the patterns in the rock and the shape of the stone. Yet I do not doubt that another person would see something different in the same stone. What I think about, what I believe, how I feel, and who I am help to shape what I am likely to see in the stone. Stone has its own personality. So do I. Working with the stone to shape it, for me, is a humbling, yet totally thrilling experience.

Many of the pages of the individual sculptures will include some text and images of the work as it was being created. Thank you for visiting.