[Capt. Bandaid]

I found a site for carved soapstone owls. Very nice work!

http://www.owlman.com/soapstone1.htm

[santagibbs]

Capt. Bandaid , that was a very interesting article on the soapstone. It makes you want to try to carve with it.. I enjoyed the site and the owls.. Thanks for sharing it.. Have you tried carving soapstone? Charlotte

[artolver]

Those are very nice Owls, I would have a hard time liking most from the real ones and the abstracts.... .His prices are good, the small ones are too low...
The soap stone is sure enough from Montana , I have picked up a few stones like those and it carves so nice. Those with the the cool dendrites actually have decent value of there own. I saw a man in Butte, Mt. in a mall show with minature bowls and vases he had turned. They were beautiful the price was scary.
Art

[Capt. Bandaid]

I have never carved soapstone but Woodcraft used to carry a starter kit with a couple of blocks of soapstone, a knife and a rasp. It included two patterns to fit the blocks included. I do recall when living in Canada that many "art" stores carried carvings by native artists that were priced ASTRONOMICALLY but the quality of the work was generally poor. If you were an Inuit with an old wood rasp, you had a future in tourist art.

[santagibbs]

There should be a book out there somewhere on carving soapstone.. I just have so many irons in the fire because I love everything..lol Charlotte

[artolver]

The soap stone we saw from "the owl man" is soft. It is talc in the rough.
You can use your carving tools as well as rasps and files, and your little power tools for details and textures.
If the stone has been blasted out of the hills, a lot of it will tend to crumble in your hands.
I don't know where to buy it. There is a RR siding near Virginia City, Montana, where they load it on RR cars.
I love Montana
Art

[whitecree]

Originally Posted by Capt. Bandaid

I do recall when living in Canada that many "art" stores carried carvings by native artists that were priced ASTRONOMICALLY but the quality of the work was generally poor. If you were an Inuit with an old wood rasp, you had a future in tourist art.

The Inuit carver got maybe 1/10th of what the "art store" sold it for.

Many people make the mistake of thinking the simplicity of Inuit carving automatically makes them poorly carved. The Inuit don't go in for a lot of facial detail or highly detailed musculature or skins on animals. Quite often, the piece itself is telling a story. Once you learn to see the work properly, you begin to appreciate it more fully.

Primitive does not equal crude.

[Capt. Bandaid]

Originally Posted by whitecree

The Inuit carver got maybe 1/10th of what the "art store" sold it for.

Many people make the mistake of thinking the simplicity of Inuit carving automatically makes them poorly carved. The Inuit don't go in for a lot of facial detail or highly detailed musculature or skins on animals. Quite often, the piece itself is telling a story. Once you learn to see the work properly, you begin to appreciate it more fully.

Primitive does not equal crude.

I am aware that primitive does not equal crude. Neither does crude equal primative. I saw many beautiful carvings done by native tribes people that were works of art worthy of the prices asked. I also saw many poorly done pieces that were a sorry reflection of native art. Too many native and white people competing for the tourist dollar.