Devin Devine, traveling stone mason based in Pennsylvania
devin@devineescapes.com 610-301-4269
Not much stone masonry to be done in North Eastern Pennsylvania, come mid winter, but the snow covers and decorates my cairns and dry stone sculptures, nicely. Also, we did an indoor repair job, repointing an interior wall for an old garage, in Ardmore PA, that was being converted into a den. And in Maryland, we repaired and updated some old stone steps.
This hasn’t been the coldest winter on record. But it has been cold enough that I couldn’t do much work up here, for a few weeks there. So, I did a job in Maryland, working with their local Schisty Butler Stone. Usually, I do a few small repair gigs like this, every year. Preferring, of course, to focus on larger, dry stone, artistic installations……but if you catch me at the right time and the right place–! I’ll help out, if I can. I like to keep my trow skills sharp, anyway.
Indoor repointing:
This old wall was in bad shape…..the home owner, general contractor and interior designer all expressed doubts–before I got stared. There were missing stones and HUGE mortar joints. We knew there was no way to bring this wall up to my usual standards, but we also knew that we could improve the situation significantly. Not a perfect wall, of course, but indoor stone masonry will add warmth and depth to this room, which is still under renovation.
Same house, a set of steps we re-built last year:
The steps were uneven, and sort of dangerous. Plus, they had been “repaired” once in the past, and had been topped with a concrete facing. We made the steps of regular tread and sensible configuration, while creating a look more in fitting with a stone home, built in the 1920’s.
Coming up in March:
- Next week we’ll be beginning work on a dry stone sculpture commission. Other than that–my lips are sealed! Photos of that, coming in April and/or May.
- In April we have 2 festival gigs booked. Will have reports about those–in the future! Be there.
- And we’ve begun a new collaboration with a professional photographer. Just a teaser, for now:
Bonus Gallery
snow covered cairns and stacked stone sculptures:
The way the snow has gathered around the Noodle Pagoda, in a spiral formation.
At first, I saw this and I said, “woah”, in a keanu Reeves voice. Somehow this structure caused the wind around it to spiral, depositing snow in such a manner?
Well, not really, of course not–half of the stones jut out and overhang and half of them tuck in and under hang. The jutting out pieces accumulated snow. Twas inevitable. Gravity.
But it has me thinking about how our doings effect the world. The rearranging of one element altars the behavior of another element.
Upward spirals, happen. When we intentionally set our self to the task of creating upward spirals–unexpected help sometimes arrives.
Follow me on instagram @DevineEscapes
At Stonehedge Gardens in Tamaqua PA.
Thank You
