PROTECTING YOUR SCULPTURE

I’d like to pass along a few thoughts that will help to ensure the enduring integrity of any stone sculpture that you might now own or later acquire. Some of my suggestions will likely be understood simply by way of common sense, but I’ll discuss them below, just the same:

• Never pick up your sculpture without supporting it from underneath its base. The piece is mounted firmly to its base with industrial adhesives and/or metal connectors. However, over time, the weight of the base could possibly cause it to pull free from the sculpture itself if the piece is not handled properly. Also, lifting the sculpture without properly supporting it from beneath its base could cause the sculpture to fracture at various stress points, even if the base itself does not break free. Of course, if your sculpture is crafted from a single piece of stone (as some of my works are) this suggestion would not apply.

• Refrain from cleaning your sculpture with alcohol, acetone, gasoline, or other chemical solvents, since they might damage or alter the stone’s texture, its surface, the sculpture’s finish, or even the color of the stone itself. Certainly, the piece may be dusted or wiped with a slightly moistened cloth from time to time, as may be needed.

• Protect your sculpture from being impacted by steel, metal, iron, or other metallic or abrasive objects. In a contest between stone and metal, stone is generally the first to show visible signs of the conflict.

• Stone is obviously a very stable element, and with care, your sculpture will last for many centuries and may be passed down from generation to generation. However, if the piece is dropped, it will surely break or chip in one or more places.

• Your sculpture is intended to be touched by the human hand. In fact, it should beckon you to feel its many curvilinear surfaces, planes, and figurative details. However, care should be taken to avoid allowing it be handled by those who might inadvertently knock it over, drop it, or damage its surface. Like all stones, it can be scratched, so care should be taken to avoid touching it while wearing sharp or abrasive jewelry. 

• If you should ever relocate (such that the sculpture is to be shipped), great care should be taken to ensure that it is very well supported inside the container within which it is to be transported. Sufficient (and proper) packing materials must always be carefully and completely placed inside any negative spaces in the sculpture and around its outer shape in order to afford as much support to it as possible. Styrofoam "peanuts" or similar materials alone will never suffice. Any movement of the sculpture during transport could result in its breakage.

• Due to the height or design of some sculptures, they may tend to be somewhat top-heavy, and as such, it’s always best to place your sculpture where it will be away from sources of vibration or inadvertent bumping.

I genuinely appreciate your interest in my work. I offer works of stone in the present, which will exist as pieces of history in the distant future. They will, most assuredly, substantially outlast all of us.