Stone carvings combine natural beauty of the material with durability. Rick has carved marble and appreciates its ability to take fine detail and its high tensile strength. But because marble can not withstand the modern curse of acid rain he prefers to work the igneous stone available in Sullivan, of which there is an abundance.
Glaciers brought stone of all sorts from the north and deposited it in immense deposits, now mined for gravel. Boulders, a byproduct of this industry, are available for the taking from pits up Punkinville Road. Of these the sculptor prefers the basalts, which are hard but work predictably and take a high polish.’
He has learned to avoid stone that has been blasted out as it has unseen cracks and will break in the carving. Fresh quarried stone is best: unweathered and sound. He gets it from an operator in West Sullivan: The Sullivan Granite Quarry, purveyor of a grey granite that is an excellent material for carving.
