Inspirational Village

art at my feet

Colin has a natural talent for packing many things into a small space.  Fitting things into a closet, storing stuff in a shed, packing the car for a road trip, or loading a truck for moving have all been times when I have been so grateful for having Colin and his jigsaw puzzle skills.  So too, does this skill show up in his stone work, whether it is a dry stack landscape feature for clients, or a set of steps and a stone hearth for our house.  Our most local stone here is sandstone, which breaks naturally and easily in flat, rectangular shapes, while retaining a sound strength and many beautiful hues ranging from grey and black to orange and red.  The hearth is two feet high by three feet wide and three feet deep, holding the wood stove up at an easy loading height and providing a warm ledge on which to perch.  We used a variety of small stones to fill and decorate the spaces between the stones, and used a tile grout to seal and fill the cracks.

The three steps that lead from the mid-section of the house into the sunken living room have a nice curving fan shape sweeping on both the upper and lower steps.  Since the opening of the stairs was quite a bit wider than we really need in which to walk up and down, Colin took the time to build a seat into one side.  We have since discovered that the seat and the depth of each step are a great place to sit with our instruments and play music.  We also grouted the stairs and added many stones that we have collected from many beaches around the world.  Since the house is built on a slope of bedrock, bringing some of this stone into the interior of the house gives it the feeling that the land below us is emerging through.

Colin’s stone work tips:

Make sure to have lots of selection of rock.  Dry fit the layout of stones of the lowest step first, chipping and shaping any stones that need it.  Then remove them and place mortar underneath and begin settling the stones back in place.  As for the hearth, dry stack the lower levels first, making sure that joints do not fall above another joint.  When mortaring the cracks, we left the mortar recessed so we could cover the mortar with a dark tile grout.  Take your time.  Finding just the right rock for just the right space will give you a finished job that will be forever beautiful.

To see more of Colin’s stone work…http://thujawoodart.com