Master of a vanishing craft
Stone carver is a throwback to an era before machines
GROTON -- Straddling a 5-foot slab of stone in the middle of his driveway, Doug Patten gingerly holds a chisel in his hand and begins tapping it with a wooden mallet.
The sky is overcast, thick with the hint of an imminent downpour, and raindrops begin pattering on the blacktop of his driveway as Patten finishes carving a portion of a lower-case "M" into the stone.
When done, the engraving will read "Welcome," after which Patten, who runs a small stone-carving business out of his Groton home as a side job to his work as a freelance photographer, will deliver the slab to a local landowner who plans to use it as decorative outdoor step. Patten said he will receive $2,000 for the work, some 30 hours' worth.
The lone hand stone carver in Groton, Patten is a rarity these days, a throwback to 70 years ago when such craftsmen were the norm and cemetery headstones, civic memorials, and stone sculptures were all handcrafted. With the advent of machine carving technology -- which makes stonework quicker and more cost effective -- the painstaking old art of hand and chisel has been on a decline ever since.
But in the past decade, the skill has been making a quiet resurgence among those attracted to hand carving's appeal, said Kurt Swenson, chief executive of
"I think the demand for hand stone carvings is increasing," he said. Anytime a hand stone carver "becomes available, we're interested in talking to them and having them on our list."
Paul Wood, a granite industry historian at the Vermont Granite Museum of Barre, said pneumatic hammers, which use air compression, were introduced around 1895, and by the early 1900s the invention had almost completely replaced the chisel and hammer.
Today, several other carving techniques are also used, a popular one being sand blasting -- though many stone carvers still often use hand carving to help fine-tune their final product, he said.
"Normally, the roughing out and the initial carving is done by pneumatic tool, a much faster process," said Wood. "It's really a cost issue. The use of pneumatic tools reduces carving time and hence the final cost."
He said he suspects the number of pure hand carvers who do not use pneumatic tools still left in Massachusetts are few.
Jon Maurer, chief executive officer of Fletcher Granite, a Westford granite quarry and producer, said he is not aware of any such stone carvers in the state, though he said many carvers still use hand chisel work for finishing their work.
The allure of hand carving appears to be linked to the singular interaction of stone and artist.
Each stone, whether a hard granite or a softer rock like a bluestone, carves in a differently, said Patten.
"If it's not handmade, there's no uniqueness to it," he said. "If it's hand carved, I can guarantee no two stones will look the same."
Swenson said people, if they can afford the extra cost, will sometimes seek out a hand carver for a cemetery head stone. "As people die and they have more money, personalization is important," he said.
If it's hand carved, even a smaller work like a headstone can run from $1,000 to $2,000, Swenson said. Larger projects can run upwards of $100,000, such as a towering 30-foot statue of Pope John Paul II made by a Rock of Ages hand carver that stands at a Polish monastery in Doylestown, Pa., he said.
In Groton, Patten does not advertise his skill, though he does apprentice students from time to time. A growing number of people have learned about him through word of mouth.
He said he has completed five cemetery headstones and several pet memorials since he began the business 12 years ago. Most of his work is on street or family name signs, and these number in the hundreds locally, he said.
On a recent Friday, Patten pointed to the side of his driveway, where a small square bluestone slab, inscribed with the name Griffin, was imbedded in his lawn. The family that commissioned the piece didn't end up buying it, but Patten said it's perhaps his finest work. The letters are finessed and polished at the edges and curve in elegant shapes across the surface of the stone. The style of font is original, one he designed himself, he said.
Patten said his mother, an avid wood carver, encouraged him to begin woodcarving as a child. As he grew into adulthood, he wanted something more challenging, and turned to stonework.
Though he does consider himself a master carver, Patten remains in awe of the "old masters" in Italy, who, he said, have honed a transcendent level of stonework over generations.
Stone carving "is simple to learn," said Patten. But "it takes years to develop, and decades to master."
He said he does not plan to become a full-time carver, mainly because the work takes a toll on one's hands and limbs.
"If you are prone to carpal tunnel syndrome, then stone carving is not for you," said Patten, who, fortunately for his clients, does not suffer from any such affliction.
