Soapstone sculpture : personal ideas, up to your imagination

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Personal Ideas

Up to your imagination

You have probably never done any sculpture, but you really want to have a go! Well try soapstone - it will forgive your beginners errors and still give a real sense of achievement and satisfaction.

Make something simple!

Simple shapes such as standing stones or totem poles are within everyone's capabilities. And if your first attempts look like prehistoric art - all the better! For some the simplicity is the beauty for others the complexity.

Take a leaf out of the master's book.

Imitation is an excellent school. Start by copying easy things with easy forms, look at all sources - antique art, renaissance, African arts, and marine projects. Keep it simple to start with - maybe just copying a part of a work such as a hand, foot, or face.

Make outdoor pieces

Create ornaments to adorn your patio or garden. Be inspired by traditional statues at garden centres or in parks or go for something more abstract. Carve water features, sun dials, or gargoyles.

Create fantasy jewellery.

Keep all the bits you chip off larger blocks to make smaller pieces such as pendants, earrings, broaches, or rings. Look for inspiration in jewellers windows or copy ancient jewellery shown in museums. Everyone will be greatly impressed when you tell them you made it yourself.

Create different presents.

From the simplest to the most complicated nothing is more interesting than receiving a gift that has been handmade. The list is endless - ash trays, paper weights, chess pieces, dominos etc.

Group Ideas

Soapstone - bringing sculptors together.

As it is so easy to carve, soapstone is greatly appreciated by art studios and art teachers, not only is it great for kids to get great results, but for more advanced artists it is a great stepping stone into hard stone sculpture.

A very affordable way into sculpture

One of the main advantages of soapstone is that the first investment is relatively low. Stone is very economical and only simple tools are needed to work it. For comparison a discovery set with 30kg of stone and a dozen tools is £80, go for the same in marble and you are looking at £800!

A shared experience in creation.

From experience in schools, we have seen that soapstone is very popular both among students and teachers. Each student can work on their own stone and the end result is a very close reflection of their effort as the student has been with their piece of work from start to finish and has been the master of creation. One of the main reasons for this is that you don't have to stop as you work like with pottery or painting, it's also interesting to note that a student who had difficulty putting paint on paper can produce amazing results in soapstone very easily.

From individual to collective work.

Soapstone also allows for very easy group work. Every one works on the same theme - for example flowers or fish, and at the end we see a group piece made up of many individual pieces.

Some precautions during use.

Tools used for soapstone carving are simple but none the less dangerous. Many are pointed or have sharp edges, and must therefore be handled with care. A supervising adult should always be present in schools or when groups are working. As always protective clothing should be worn including goggles.