Greg Spitzer

Biography

After a 25 year career in telecommunications, I left my business career to pursue my life long dream of stone carving. In the spring of 2006 I began working with simple hand tools on a small block of Colorado alabaster. Later that summer, I attended my first Marble/marble symposium in Marble, CO and began using modern electric and air driven tools. I have attended a Marble/marble session for the past three years.

For over a year, in 2007 / 2008, I further developed my skills and experience while working alongside the various carvers at, The Purple Door Studios in Denver, CO. In addition, I attended several classes including Anatomy for Sculptors and Sculpting the Female Form – with the Colorado Academy of Art.

My work has been shown at The Redstone Art Gallery in Redstone, CO and the Access Gallery in Denver, CO. One of my pieces (Ascension) was selected by the city of Longmont, CO for public display as part of their Art on the Move program and is installed on a one year loan basis: July, 2008 – June, 2009.

Prior to moving from Colorado, I became a juried member of the New England Sculpture Association (NESA). I moved to Carlisle, MA in July of 2008 and my current studio space is in Medford, MA at the Hillside Sculpture Studios. I accepted representation by The Walsingham Gallery in Newburyport, MA in October of 2008.

Since moving to New England I have shown my work at Westerly, RI Land Trust and West Rutland, VT – both NESA sponsored events.

Statement

I started exploring the medium of stone sculpting out of frustration with drawing. I once mentioned my struggle to accurately capture the image of a face to a friend and he suggested carving it in alabaster.  I knew instinctively from the first blow that physical contact with three-dimensional space was what had been missing all along.  I didn't know this when I began carving, but the method that came to me naturally is known as direct carving.  The first few pieces of stone I tried were relatively soft and easy to work and were developed out of natural shapes. I used my imagination and carved what I saw in each stone.  As I evolved as an artist, I became more comfortable approaching squarely cut blocks of stone.  With time and experience, I have become much more adept creating designs in foam, cement or clay maquettes and then transferring those to stone. However, I still prefer the more spontaneous aspects of direct carving.

Over the past three years I have tried to learn as much as possible about different types of stone. I made the jump from softer stones such as alabaster to much harder stone like marble and granite right away.  Since then, I have experimented with limestones and calcite as well. I find that each type of stone affects the end result and often in surprising ways.  So far, I think I have been fairly lucky in that the occasional natural 'feature' that appear on my forms seem to augment my work. I attempt to control as many factors as I can before carving begins.  Understanding how elements like bedding plane (basically like the grain in wood) and how the natural movement of a stone like calcite can rob a form of detail is essential.  Ultimately, unpredictable objects (e.g. shells, crystals or veins) appear and have to be dealt with in context.

The leap to harder stones dictated that I augment my hand tools and become familiar with a host of new power tools. At first, I was reluctant to lose the direct contact and connection with the surface that hand tools allow. One of the great things about hand tools like hammer and chisel is that - they are slower and afford one the opportunity to make adjustments.  The problem with hand tools is - they are slower.  Power tools enable you to get down to your final surface much much faster.  It has taken some time, but I have been able to get into the same zone or rhythm - almost a meditative state that I was able to achieve with my original tools.

There are many aspects of stone sculpting that appeal to me and have evolved into intriguing lessons and knowledge.  But, the part that I enjoy the most remains the physical act of carving. The instant of recognition as I expose the form or line under the surface is the magic of this art.  The intense, intimate contact between the tip of my blade, chisel or file and the surface that unveils what I know lies beneath is what beckons me.

Resume