Advice from the Artist

Some of my favorite Pics

In the beginning

I was first introduced to "stone facing" in 1999 from a friend of mine in South Africa. He showed me a picture book of artificial rock and wall cladding.

His name is Irne Grobler.
Web Site: www.rockworks.co.za/

Its hard to read unless you understand Africans but he has many pictures to look at. When I saw the photos I said "I can do that" and I was off to the races. Irne stayed with me for a couple of months but his visa ran out so he had to leave the country. We were able to do three jobs together. I fed him the mud and watched him as he taught me the basics. I didn't have a teaching site, or a web site, or anybody else to help me with the other jobs I had already sold. I was thrown to the lions but I survived.

Ever since then I have been on a quest to unlock the secrets of this craft and create new ones to be a better artist. Over the years I have developed relationships that have added value to my life. This site features many of those relationships.

Now we have joined together to create the most comprehensive teaching site in the vertical markets featuring world class artisans and other highly trained professionals.

Years Carving: 8

Web Site: www.CreativeRockForming.com

For corporate consulting or projects in the Chicagoland area.
nathan@CreativeRockForming.com This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Favorite Styles:

I really enjoy the dry stack method or mortar-less look. I originally was taught the mortar look and for years perfected that style. However, with dry stack there is a whole new element and that is Illusion. Because there is no mortar everything has to look like it fits together perfectly. Arches have to be designed as if each stone really depended on one another. Even in real life, masons rarely use the dry stack method. So it has a certain romance to it and my clients love it.

Feed the Need

My first advice to you would be to begin to fill your minds with pictures of stone work. If you are going to be a vertical artisan then you will need to draw upon a vast data base of knowledge. If you don't already have a data base of knowledge then you need to get one. I'm referring to photos, experiences and anything that puts vision into your mind. I collect pictures of stone, stone walls, natural rock and hardscapes of all kinds to fill my mind with examples of what real stone looks like. When I am sculpting a wall I draw upon those images and en vision them in the wall I'm working on. Another helpful tool is the internet. Below are some web sites that you can go to and do your research.

Type in key words like: Rock, Rock Walls, Stone, Stone Walls, Water falls, rock and stone structures anything that has to do with stone and rock. You will begin to see rock all over the place when you train yourself this way.

http://search.pbase.com/search
http://www.onlinephotogalleries.com/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/siteindex/photogallery/animals.html
http://pro.corbis.com/

Pro.corbis.com is one of my favorites. Millions of pictures are free to view online at these sites and more.

Build your visual data base.

Sometimes libraries sell bundles of magazines for a few bucks. Scoop them up and spend some time going through them tearing out photos that show relevant information.

Don't quit your day job!

Just because a site like this exists does not mean you will be successful. You need to practice what you see until you have the confidence to fabricate it. When I first started my business I sold jobs at cost just to prove to myself I could do it and the clients loved the price. With confidence my price began to increase and get better and better.

Take your time.

Most people will rush. Learn to slow down to speed up. If you don't pay attention to detail early off when you need to perform you will certainly over look it. There are enough "hacks" out there don't be one of them.

Invest in yourself

I wish a site like this existed when I first started. Years ago I would not tell you how to do what I do for thousands of dollars. Take full advantage of all the content here and realize that it could take you a lifetime to learn it if you were by yourself. There are many lifetimes of lessons to be learned at a fraction of the time. You truly have a untapped world out there in the vertical markets and I am excited to see what you can create.

Go to Vertical Artisans Website»