Summer stone sculpture courses

These exceptional, intensive courses of stone working take place in the countryside, near the town of Louny. You will work mostly in the outdoor garden and sometimes in lecturer's private studio. The dates are always individually arranged according to current interest and are usually several-days long (e.g. extended weekends).

On a one-day course you can get basic understanding of the stone sculpture work and learn everything about the theory and work options. Depending on interest, it's possible to arrange either individual or group courses.

Participants will learn the basics of stone sculpture and will create their own sculpture that they can take home.

The basic course price includes a choice of small marlite or sandstone, and also some stone sculpture tools, such as mallets. Larger stone material can be ordered in advance with the lecturer.

The basic price doesn't include tools like chisels and choppers. You can choose these according to the stone with which you will work and order them in advance at standard prices, please discuss this option with the lecturer in advance.

For someone who has never tried stone sculpture, the work may seem to be physically demanding, but it doesn't always have to be so. If you are worried that you would not have enough energy for larger projects, you can always do a smaller and finer work.

The sandstone is a coarser stone and requires different approach to theme stylization and processing. It's used for larger expression forms.

There are many kinds of sandstone with different attributes so we cannot say that sandstone is not suitable for detailled work. Even the hardness of sandstone from different localities can greatly vary. Therefore it's important to consider whether you prefere to work with a coarse-grained stone, suitable for distinctive expression forms (e.g. Liberec sandstone), or perhaps with Mšeno sandstone, which is very soft and malleable. Again, discuss this with the lecturer to decide what you need.

If you are interested you can also learn to express yourself with artificial stone work and its different finishing options, etc.

You will need to bring your own complete workwear, because stone sculpture work creates a lot of dust. Your clothing should be light but covering most of your body. It is good to wear a head scarf; we also recommend a hat (e.g. straw hat) against sharp sunlight. You will also need leather gloves and good quality disposable respirators, approximately 1-2pcs per day. Protective goggles are an absolute necessity. It's good to have sunglasses (remember they may get a bit scratched) that are tightly formed around your eyes. Hearing protection may be useful too, butterfly protectors or ear plugs are sufficient.

Date of stone sculpture curse is September 6. - 8. 2013. Look at pictures from the curse. There are placed in czech version.                                          We look forward to work together.