Searching Leopard

Todays featured sculpture

Searching Leopard by Bevin Chikodzi

 

SKU: 1227
Weight: 1kg
Genre: Animals
Stone type: Leopard rock

Sculptor Information

Bevin Chikodzi was born in 1966 in Mrewa, Zimbabwe and was part of the Shona Tribe. He was the eldest of seven children. Bevin married a childhood sweetheart. Bevin past away in October 2006.
Bevin completed his primary school at Mrewa and secondary education at Seke I. Whilst at school, he excelled in art and craft. From 1988 to 1989, Bevin worked with Mr Mudhokjwani, a local sculptor, in Seke. After gaining some valuable experience, Chikodzi decided to work on his own.
Bevin lived in Chitungwiza and was a sculptor full time. He had a personal style, which tends to be semi-abstract or abstract. Bevin’s sculpture portrays human emotions and relationships.
Golden Serpentine, a rare hard stone found in Zimbabwe was very much favoured by Bevin who enjoyed all the beautiful colours emerging from the stone once polished. He also worked in black and brown Serpentine.
Bevin had a quiet, gentle nature and a very good sense of humour. He was well liked and respected amongst his community.
The artist worked together with his stone and it is believed that “nothing which exists naturally is inanimate” – it has a spirit and life of it’s own. One is always aware of the stone’s contribution in the finished sculpture and it is indeed fortunate that in Zimbabwe a magnificent range of stones are available from which to choose.

In Prayer

Todays featured sculpture

In Prayer by Patrick Fredy



Reference: 1039
Weight: 141kg
Genre: Spiritual
Stone Type: Springstone

Sculptor Information

Partrick was born on 5th May 1960 in the Guru District of Mosambique.
He is a member of the Chikunda Race. He was born in a family of six, four boys and two girls and he is the last-born.
He started carving in 1988 under the guidance of Moses Maya. He started carving on his own in 1989.
Partrick has participated in local exhibitions and his work have found places in private collector’s homes and galleries like Matombo Gallery, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Chapungu Gallery and Vututiwa Gallery.
Abroad his work can also be found in countries like Belgium, Australia, Canada, USA and UK.

Learn about Verdite

VERDITE:

Verdite is an exotic and wonderful stone of rare quality.  It captures the mysterious and beautiful 

colours of an age old area of Africa.

Verdite - like the ever changing sea - is infinite in its variety of lovely shades and patterns, 

usually in green, but more rarely in blues, golds and browns.

Verdite occurs amongst some of the oldest rock in the world dating back over 3500 million 

years. The only known deposits are found in areas that gold was first discovered in Africa 

many centuries ago. In fact it has been found only in very close proximity to gold.

Verdite is related to the Serpintonites and occurs in a dozen lens-shaped pods dotted over 

a 25 kilometre range.  Each deposit displays unique characteristics.  The material has 

no cleavage and is riddled with intrusions of corundum (ruby) crystals, quarts, 

calcite and mica.  Chromium is the mineral that gives Verdite its distinctive rich green colour.

Amongst the African people, Verdite takes precedence in tradition.  It is a basis for 

ancient craftsmanship and tribal love.  In powdered form it has been used by witch doctors 

as a mystical preparation for inducing fertility.

When used for carvings, only the most flawless Verdite is acceptable.  The artist’s skill 

and creativity enhances the unique intrinsic beauty of the stone and the stone inturn 

enhances the beauty of his work.

We have a blog on our website!

 We have been upgrading our website a lot the last month. The newest feature on the site is a new blog featuring everything about stone sculpture and all our sculpture available on the website. Go have a look!  http://www.artcreationsafrica.com/blog/

The Angel

Todays featured sculpture

The Angel by Euwitt Nyanhongo



Weight: 10kg
Genre: Spiritual
Stone Type: opaline

Sculptor Information

Euwitt Nyanhongo was born in 1973 in the Nyanga district of Zimbabwe. Euwitt is one of the sons of Veteran Zimbabwean sculptor, Claud Nyanhongo. He has a brother called Gedion and a sister called Agnes, both of whom are also very prominent sculptors.
Born into an artistic family, Euwitt began sculpting at an early age. During school holidays he often assisted his father in finishing off pieces. At school he excelled in art. Under the guidance of Claud, Gedion and Agnes, Euwitt began sculpting full time in 1993. He is the family’s youngest upcoming artist.
Euwitt prefers to work from the hard Springstone and Nyanga Serpentine found in the area where he was raised. He believes that his inspiration is derived from the Nyanga mountains and it is these ‘’spiritual rocks’’ that provide him with vision – so he often spends time working in the mountains.
His work portrays his human affinity with nature, animals, spirits and mythological beliefs of the Shona Tribe. In the last two years, Euwitt has created some larger pieces of sculpture in addition to his small to medium sculptures. He has gained much recognition and has been invited to join an annual residency sculptor programme for young upcoming sculptors.

Pyrophyllite stone

Pyrophyllite is commonly known as “Wonderstone”.  Is grey colour from deposits found in South Africa and mottled from deposits found in Namibia .Not many artists carve this medium.  It has a very fine grain construction and is measured between 2-3 on the moh scale.  The composition of the stone is compressed volcanic ash and is inert and is famous for not being a conductor of heat or electricity.
Ottosdal is the only place in South Africa where the unique “Wonderstone” pyrophyllite is mined.  The colour of the stone found there is grey.   Brandberg in Namibia is where this stone is found. The colour of the stone found there has a variety of colours due to mineral inclusions. It is extensively used in nuclear power stations and was used for making tiles for rockets re-entry shields so that rockets could re-enter into the earth atmosphere. Once this stone has been polished it has a beautiful high gloss finish and turns from grey to black with the application of wax.

Resting Animals

Todays featured sculpture

Resting Animals by Josia Manzi



Weight: 57kg
Genre: Animals
Stone type: Steatite

Sculptor Information

Born in Zimbabwe of Malawian parents, Manzi worked as a labourer before joining the Tengenenge Sculpture Community in 1966 where he still works today.
Manzi is an important and valued member of the first generation of sculptors, and has exhibited worldwide including the major exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Frankfort Palm Garten, Botanical Gardens in Munich and Kirstenbosch Gardens in South Africa.
His sculpture is influenced to a large extent by the natural and spiritual world and much of his subject matter is based on mythological beliefs. Manzi mainly works in serpentine, a hard stone. His sculpture contains good strong lines and has the power to attract touch.
Josia is a very talented sculptor. A lot of his work also forms part of permanent collections in galleries and cultural museums worldwide.

Some tips on carving stone

Creating holes in stone

 

Eventually every sculptor wants to punch a hole through their stone.

It's only natural.

Note, however, that the simple act of making any hole greatly reduces the strength of the

stone in the area around it.

If you then continue with the hammer and chisel on other parts

of the sculpture the chances of breakage in the area of the hole go up dramatically.

To help

avoid that, it is best not to create the full hole right away.

You can start it - from both sides

of the stone - and carve enough out so you clearly know where it is and see what it will look

like, but stop before going all the way through.

The strength difference between a hole and

a depression with half an inch of stone remaining to be removed is quite large, and your

carving will be much less likely to break while you work on it if you remove that last bit of

stone - called a bridge - at the very end.

Once it's gone you should only use files; no more

hammer and chisel work.

Actually creating a hole with chisels is a matter of working with the narrowest toothed or

flat chisels you have and working from the center of the hole out.

Work all around the outer

edge in a circular pattern, going deeper as you can.

Eventually you'll be unable to remove

any more stone from the bottom of the hole because the sides get in the way of the

chisels.

At that point you have to widen the hole more before you can go deeper.

13 Power tools, of course, change the entire process, but (as stated above) we don't

recommend using power tools early on.

See the power tools section later, though, if you

feel you're ready to use them.

 

Carve along cracks, not across them

 

Every natural stone has flaws, and some of those flaws manifest as cracks or fissures.

When carving, it is best - particularly when near your final surface - to use chisels along the

direction of the crack if possible, instead of at right angles to them.

Any crack - even if it

doesn't significantly weaken the stone - is a place where the stone on one side of the crack

is not well bonded to the stone on the other side.

Your carving will tend to chip off tiny

flakes on either side of the crack, making it more difficult to polish smooth.

This problem is

more significant in softer stones.

To avoid it as best you can, the first thing to do is avoid using chisels at right angles to the

crack when close to your final form.

Chisel use puts more stress on the stone than files or

sanding, and is therefore more likely to keep the crack visible.

If you can use files - also

along the direction of the crack if possible - you'll reduce the problem.

 

What to do if your stone breaks

 

Stop!

Immediately.

You may be able to glue it back together with an epoxy (see the

detailed section below) but it will be less obvious if you carefully gather any little chips and

make sure they are glued back in during the process.

This isn't something you're going to

undertake for a small error, but if your entire stone breaks you have little choice but to glue

it back together or completely rethink your sculpture.

Also, take note of the actions you

were making when it broke.

Were you hitting harder than normal?

Were you working on or

near a crack?

Was the stone very thin in the area of the break?

Had you created a hole in

the piece, weakening it?

Note these things so you can avoid causing similar problems later.

It is also important to know this happens to every sculptor.

Even experienced carvers find

stones with hidden flaws that cause things to break.

This can be minimized with experience

and care in your tool use, but sometimes it simply cannot be avoided.

Stone is a natural

material and contains natural flaws.

Be prepared to redesign your sculpture in the event of

a break.

Or abandon it altogether and start something else.

 

Information from: http://www.bangtherockstogether.com/docs/How_To_Carve_Stone.pdf

Pelican

Todays featured sculpture

Pelican by Arthur Fata



Weight: 150kg
Genre: Birds
Stone type: Springstone

Sculptor Information

Arthur Fata was born in 1963 in Harare and studied at the Workshop in Harare’s National Gallery where he was able to use painting, print making and textiles as well as sculpture to express his ideas. Here he was introduced to the work of renowned artists such as Picasso and Matisse. Arthur said, “To me it was a great excitement to discover the work of these people – especially to see work that could come from ‘within’ a person, particularly in abstract art.” This new and powerful imagery inspired Arthur rather than directly influencing what he was doing: he felt able to work differently, but fired up by the same concepts. After his time at the Workshop he was awarded a scholarship to study fine art in Bulgaria. He has also studied in England and Portugal. It was whilst in an artists’ workshop in Portugal that he was first able to use machine tools on stone and now he believes that these should be available to all Zimbabwean stone sculptors. Interestingly, he does not feel that such methods pose any threat to their work so long as they see the process simply as a tool and resist getting too involved in the technique. In his opinion, there will always be a place for hand tools as there are many aspects of stone sculpture for which machinery is not suitable.
Arthur’s sculpture is derived from powerful natural forms, such as rock formations and cliffs – but also from smaller subject matter such as birds and plants. His ideas evolve through a process of drawing, with imagery often becoming abstract and sometimes combined with other images to create startling concepts – for example, Torso (1992, Serpentine and Wire), which shows a human figure partially wrapped in metal wire. This combines a traditional stone depiction of the human form with images seen of spiders wrapping their webs around the roots and stems of water plant. He uses drawing not just for his sculpture but also as an activity in its own right (landscapes, etc., which sometimes develop into painting). Arthur will then take ideas from his painting to use in sculpture as well as working from photographic collages for subject matter. He explains that the most satisfying aspect of his work is the process of “building or subtracting mass. The space is used and the volume controlled”. Always looking for new ways of achieving this, his work often demands combinations of unusual materials and a highly imaginative method of using them to their best affect.
The stones favoured by Arthur Fata are the various Serpentines and Springstone, when working in this country. In Bulgaria he uses Marble and Granite, which is harder than Zimbabwean stone, but is rarely available in large pieces. He says of his sculpture, “I try to put more ideas into each piece – so each sculpture is new. But you have a collections of images to call on as memories of your experiences”. For the future “I wish I could carve a huge sculpture, but this would take a mountain! It would be a massive sculpture in which people could live”.
Now thought of as one of the most innovative of the second generation of sculptors, his sculpture has been seen in several important international exhibitions as well as in Zimbabwe. His major 1995 work “Wild Seed Pod’’ has been much admired and considered one of the most significant of recent years. This was sold from the Chapungu Sculpture Parks permanent collection to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in 1998.

Moon Spirit

Todays featured sculpture

Moon Spirit by Witness Bonjisi



Weight: 80kg
Genre: Spiritual
Stone Type: Cobalt

Sculptor Information

I am Witness Bonjisi and I was born in Mutuko on 25 September 1975. I did my education in Tafara and my Secondary in Mabruku.
I started doing art in Ruwa with my brother, Lameck Bonjisi in 1992 until 1995. Though influenced by Nicholas Mukomberanwa, I worked with my brother.
I started doing my own things in 1995. I did my first Exhibition in Oakland, America in 2002 with Shamwari Garrtaly. I did another Exhibition in Phoenix, Arizona, America the end of November till December.
In 2003, I was invited to Daros, Switzerland for World Economic Forum.

What to look for when buying a Stone Sculpture:

When buying a stone sculpture from a hawker – roadside stall, the following should be checked:

• Check that the sculpture is not cracked. This is difficult to see an untrained eye because the crack can be camouflaged using polish or putty. To find out whether the stone is solid or has a crack, check it in the sunlight and flick it with your finger. It should make a clear sound.

• Make sure the sculpture has been polished using a natural, clear wax or beeswax. If a sculpture has, for some or other reason, been repaired the artist will add an additive to the wax to hide the repair. This crack can generally be found by rubbing a white piece of cloth or handkerchief over the sculpture surface. Cracks are cause by fissures in the stone. During carving, the stress placed on the stone through the chisel from the blow of the hammer highlights or opens the unseen fissure or cleavage.

• Make sure the sculpture is able to stand on a level surface. Many of the sculptures sold by hawkers, along the side of the road, will stand on the soil or a wedged using pieces of stone or wood. Once the sculpture is removed from this support they can no longer stand and once they reach their new home, cannot be placed successfully without assistance.

• It is advisable that a sculpture purchased has a mounting hole so that it can be mounted on a steel pin. Sculptures are heavy and, if they are not securely mounted, could be a hazard for children in a home or garden.

• Make sure the sculpture you would like to buy is made from the stone the seller says it is made from. This is a very common complaint. Sellers say the sculpture is carved from “Springstone” and it is actually “Black Serpentine” or “Brown Serpentine” polished with shoe polish. “Green Serpentine” is often sold a “Verdite”. Springstone is at least twice as hard as Black Serpentine and is therefore considerably harder to carve. Many of the soft soapstone are carved and polished, using various coloured polish, and then a potential buyer is told it is something else.

Sold stone can be carved into beautiful objects using inexpensive tools. Hard stone requires special tools and skills. It is impossible to produce the shape and forms seen made out of soft stone in hard Opal, Springstone or Verdite. Verdite can be so hard that the artists use old dentist drills to obtain the desired sculpture.

The traditional way of carving – hammer and chisel – produce a completely different range of sculpture to the use of mechanical or electrical tools.