Devin Devine, stone sculptor based out of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania

serious inquiries contact devin@devineescapes.com

UPDATE sphere 2022

Before:

The before shot was taken months before, maybe in March when the dogwood was in bloom and the ferns were still uncurling.

Building a dry stone sphere

Just beginning:

By “just beginning” I mean to say “day 3”. That’s one solid day of just looking at the stones that I had to work with, and thinking, and then looking at the space that I had to work in, and thinking, contemplating, envisioning. Day two, cut a whole bunch of stones, hammer ’em, chisel ’em and also….look at them. Day three, set my guide post in to place, and lay a few stones. This was in June, with the hydrangeas in bloom, mostly blue and purple, the dogwood tree has leafed out,  and the ferns are all the way uncurled.

And bees! Honey bees too! Yep, I got stung, right on my calf. Nature saying ‘hey there mister, mind your step’.

Related content: building another dry stone sphere

A day or so later:

I built this Dry Stone Sphere among lush vegetation, pachysandra covering every inch of ground, competing with every other plant, the way it does. Because of that I decided it would be a good idea to build the sphere upon a dias or raised platform, to help raise the sphere up a bit, not let it get so over-taken by the ground cover.

At this point, there’s only blue stones and lilac stones.

A day or so later:

Green stones have been added in to the mix. This added a bit of complication for me–now I have three colors to keep balanced in the composition. I’m not painting here–can’t just say “nah, I want to change that 500 pound section of green into lilac and switch that lilac area to blue” and then change it with a mere brush stroke–I have to move 500 pounds of stone, twice, to enact such a change. And yes! I did so, at least once during the process!

The orange bucket in the background was a good sitting spot, to regard my work and pause for a bit. I’m not on a schedule, and my client was in no rush either 🙂 Buckets are also used to carry around tools with, and to store small bits of stone used for hearting. That’s infill, for all you non-wallers out there.

No cement on this project, anywhere. No glue either

Later:

No cement, not one drop. Not that I’m against cement, or against anything, for that matter. but it’s important to me, that this project was built in full cooperation with nature. Remember the bees? Gravity, stone, vision, heart–no tricks, no cheats, no “modern wonders of technology”.

It’s also a challenge, to me, as a builder. I’m not one to back away from a challenge, come on now.

Currently I am building some smaller “dry stone” sculptures, similar to this–that do use a discreet amount of bonding agent. This way, they are portable. Also, being so small….a larger project (like the sphere) can hold itself together with it’s own gravity–these smaller pieces would be vulnerable if they were true dry stone. No great dogma here. But again, when I say dry stone, I mean dry stone.

Me and the bees got along for the rest of the project by the way. They did not sting me, I did not kill them. Harmony, that’s what it’s all about y’all. Contrary to popular misconception it is NOT all about the hokey-pokey. They lied to us! Okay, back on topic.

July 4th, my client is on vacation, and frankly, the project was taking longer than I expected. So I decided to do what had to be done, and work on the holiday.

the Sphere was about half-way completed at this point:

For the first half of the build on a project like this, there is danger. What we are talking about here is corbel–every stone is jutting out, over hanging. Once I get past the half-way point, I’m adding weight to the center, making the structure stronger and stronger. Before the middle point, however, each course laid just makes the structure more and more vulnerable. Anyway, I was feeling pretty good about things…very mindful. Rather focused.

CRASH! Actually, first I heard a slight shift, as if the stone was all shifting…..I was kneeling right at the half-sphere at that point. Prudently, I stepped back just a little bit. I am nothing if not prudent! Anyway.No, actually, before I stepped back I tried to hold the sphere together for a moment. I bear-hugged it. I took one arm out of the bear-hug and quickly re-positioned a stone or two, then back to the bear hug, then another desperate re-positioning of another stone. But I knew it was no good. Alas, it was time to give in and step back. Let it happen.

Hahaha, right? hardy har-har! I laughed, to keep from crying. Thank you, said I. Thank you to nature, to gravity, to God and to random process. This too, is a blessing.

And I decided to call it a day. Took a photo and went home. Fine, you want more humor? Being a holiday, I decided to ride my motorcycle in to work that day. There was some wet moss on the clients driveway….oh yeah, I wiped out on my bike 5 minutes after taking that photo! And I swear, there was a squirrel looking at me, seemingly amused while it happened too! Only going 5 miles an hour, on a driveway and all, but still!

July the 5th:

Yup. Back to the start.

Re-organize the pile of stones. Look around a bit–lovely landscape to work in. Nice benches to sit upon. Did some grilling one day too.

I had some awesome walls to look at:

flagstone walkways:

Pretty flowers, butterflies, dry stone sitting walls, fancy patios, all-around a decent scene:

You might guess at this point that this was not my first time on this property. ..I may have had something to do with all that hardscaping. Anyway, back to work:

Getting close! Totally past that dangerous half-way point by now.

Ta-da! All finished.

I did the whole job solo, but brought in a helper on the last day, to help tidy up the customers yard after my work. As we were clearing the jobsite up, putting away my tools and clearing away unused stones, my helper noticed something–some of the stones I was using had these unusual inclusions–spherical inclusions. Yea, that’s right!

Now I’ve been working with Pennsylvania blue stone for many years now–I’ve never seen this before. I got out my smaller chisels and gently worked at the inclusion–it popped right out. Like a sign. Nature has seen my efforts and approves. Wow.

Thank You.

Some of the inclusions broke when I tried to pry them out, but the ones that came out full, they are some of the most beloved, favorite stones that I have. And I have a lot of stones. Medicine stones, these. Again–thank you. Love this Earth right here. Love it all.

An homage, to this ball of rock that we live upon. A song of joy, created with the full cooperation of gravity and in collaboration with the forces of nature.

Thank you all for looking.

Post script

When people ask how I built the thing, this is how I usually describe the process:

 

Featured in Garden design magazine..

 

more stone art:

• Dry Stone Spheres
• Squiggly Noodle
• stone patio mosaics
• hand-made stone benches
• stone vases
• natural stone bird baths

 

contact devin@devineescapes.com serious inquiries only please