Selecting the stone

Final installation of "Boy Reading a Book"

I proposed to do the sculpture in Indiana Limestone. To get the stone and start the sculpture, I applied to participate in The 8th Annual Limestone Symposium in Bloomington, Indiana. As a carver in the symposium I requested the maximum amount of stone allowed, 8 cubic feet (approximately 1200 lbs.).

Originally I thought this would be enough stone to carve a middle school aged student life-size. However, before arriving in Indiana (June, 2004) I needed to give the quarry the dimensions of the stone requested and the cuts could not be complex. I requested a 2’x 2’ x 2’ square block for carving the torso and devised a plan to add the head and legs from additional stone which I purchased in Indiana.