One more day of sanding I think before this sculpture is ready for powder coating with a clear UV resistant finish. And then it’ll be done. Not the most complicated or detailed sculpture I’ve done, but in terms of scale, this is the biggest at just over 2 1/2 feet tall. This stone is also very different from the marble, limestone or slate that I usually carve. The crystalline nature of honeycomb calcite is far more prominent, presenting a unique set of difficulties when working it. The translucent nature of the stone is a double edged sword. On the one hand it adds an unparalleled visual depth, but the catch is that when sanding and polishing, any scratches or mashed crystals will be readily apparent. It’s not a hard stone like granite, but in my experience honeycomb calcite is definitely a DIFFICULT stone to carve.

"Imagine, everything there is and everything that will ever be, divided by 21 million.” -Knut Svanholm

AI is great and all, but I prefer natural materials formed over millions of years as calcium carbonate precipitates from mineral-rich groundwater in sedimentary environments, gradually crystallizing into an orange, honeycomb pattern of fibrous crystals separated by white calcite membranes.