See this little fellow here? Remember all the beautiful wood carvings he did, like the tree stump he made into a beautiful dragon up on Pine Drive? Well, guess what the little fellow is doing now? Stone! He is making some of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen and he is doing it by chipping away at stone. A regular Micheal Angelo if I ever saw one.
And do you see that big smile? He is actually glad to see me! This is taken at the Beulah Arts and Crafts Fair that I have been trying to get to for 30 years and never made it yet, but this was the day Val and I went up and just got lucky! Serendipity, they call that!
(Sam, if you look real close on the right that is half of Melinda's face.)
So I went by his shop and checked out the Hawk he is working on. In my usual haste I did not visit with John about what kind of stone this is. I do recall a lady who had a gravel pit telling me that Beulah has some on the most beautiful marble in the world and that if I needed any she had access. So from that conversation and the feel of this, I would say it is some kind of marble. I do know Beulah has pink marble also. I have seen some of John's stuff that is much lighter. I am going to just publish a bunch of his work one of these days.And do you see that big smile? He is actually glad to see me! This is taken at the Beulah Arts and Crafts Fair that I have been trying to get to for 30 years and never made it yet, but this was the day Val and I went up and just got lucky! Serendipity, they call that!
(Sam, if you look real close on the right that is half of Melinda's face.)
This is the back side of that Hawk. I do not know how much more John has to do on this, but it is very smooth. This just amazes me to no end! I know rocks are very hard and I can not imagine how that man can shape something like that out of anything that hard, but you can rest assured I am going to visit that boy in the very near future and come away a much wiser woman!
But still I go back to this! This is the Dragon's Nest that he started last Spring. This is made out of a tree root and still needs a lot of work to be the work of art that John saw the first time he touched this. I am going to nag him into submission on finishing this thing if I have to buy it myself!
Now I know I have once more given you a report and raised more questions than I have given answers. Bad Lou! Some day I will remember to take the notebook with prepared questions, write down the answers legibly, remember where the notebook is at when I write......There is just so much to do and so little time!
But anyway, hats off to John Clay!! A Beulah Artisan, Stone cutter, Wood Carver, friend, handyman and just all around great guy! This man is going to make his mark on the world and I will be here to say "I found him first!"
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