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Where does the stone come from?Majority of the stones used to carve originates from the Eastern Highlands commonly know as ´´Nyanga serpentine´´ or The Great Dyke, a volcanic ridge running for 1300 kilometres across the centre of the country in the direction south west to north east. It is the longest linear mass of volcanic rock in the world. For millions of years heat and pressure concentrated on this ancient rock mass have created a unique mineral fusions, which can now be seen in all the different colours, shadings and combinations of hard and soft stones. Sculptors in Zimbabwe carve a variety of stone from the hardest springstone to the softest of soapstone. The stone range includes verdite, many types of serpentine, opaline, dolomite, leopard rock, various steatite and soapstones. This gives the artists a large range of textures and colours to choose and work from. The stone colours are formed by trace elements and minerals included in the molten stone million of years ago. The main inclusions are chrome, copper and ruby corundum all form part of magic and mystique of this magnificent, exquisite contemporary art form. Serpentine and springstone are the stones preferred by the artists. They have a wide range of hardness and colour. The colour or combination of colours has left the artists with over 200 different colour stone variations from which to carve. Verdite an ancient brilliant green semi-precious stone is over 3.6 billion years old. Verdite can be an extremely hard stone as it may have areas where ruby corundum the second hardest stone on earth is included. Zimbabwean verdite commonly known as ruby verdite is unique to Zimbabwe because of these ruby corundum inclusions. The only other deposit of verdite is found in South Africa. Majority of the time, the artists due to their ability to read the stone do not mark or draw on the stone surface but follow the stones natural form and contours when sculpting. The stone itself dictates to the artist the subject hidden within it. Once the hammering and chiselling is completed the artists then starts to smooth the nearly completed rough sculpture?s surface with various diamond studded and high carbon steel files to achieve a finer smoother finished surface. The next step, the sculpture is honed (polished) using various grades of wet/dry water paper. The last grade to be used being either a 1200 or a1500 grit. This will give a very fine smooth surface ready to absorb the final clear waxing process. The sculpture is then placed near a fire (or similar artificial method of heating can be used) and heated before applying coats of beeswax or clear wax polish to draw out the colours of the stone. The sculpture is then left to cool down and only once the sculpture is cold can the final shining process be completed. Stone being a natural product will absorb wax readily. Back to Sculpture Information >> |
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