| Local sculptor hopes to carve out a living |
By: Paul M. Malchow
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Posted: Thursday, October 23, 2008 9:18 am
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Liam Anderson converted his garage in Cleveland into a sculpture studio. Anderson said he usually has four or five pieces in progress at one time.
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CLEVELAND – He’s no Fred Flintstone, but Liam Anderson’s job is right out of the stone age. Anderson practices one of the oldest arts known to man – creating beautiful objects out of chunks of rocks.
“I usually don’t plan how pieces will look in advance,” Anderson said. “I have an idea of what I want to do and just start chipping away the rock I don’t need.”
It sounds simple enough, but Anderson has a unique talent of visualizing art out a rough piece of stone. Several chunks of limestone lie in wait around the back yard. A number of works in different stages can be found outside and inside his studio which used to be the family garage. “I’m usually working on three of four at a time,” he explained. “I keep a bunch of rocks sitting around. I look at them. I study them. Pretty soon I know what they’re going to be.”
It took Anderson, 39, a while longer to figure out what he was going to be, although he says he was attracted to art at Mankato East High School. “I took all the art classes I could,” he recalled. “I took commercial art classes at South Central Technical College.”
But Anderson couldn’t find a job which suited his interests and he bounced around as a carpenter and construction worker, getting hired and laid off as the seasons changed. “I needed a job and went to work at Vetter Stone,” he said. “It was really hard and really dirty.”
It was at Vetter Stone where Anderson discovered his love and talent for working with stone. “I picked things up really quick,” he said. “I was good at finishing and was a finish line supervisor. Later I got to do some carving work and do some architectural sculpture.”
Anderson’s first venture with his own business was in 2000 when he launched Stone Craft. To make ends meet he and his wife Tanya started another business, Flat Out Flooring, specializing in installing ceramic tile. “We were really busy for a while,” Anderson said. “Then the economy went sour and the work dried up. I had an idea for garden sculptures. Stone Throw Gallery in St. Peter let me show a couple of things and people really liked them. I was surprised at the response.”
Anderson’s sculptures are done in limestone, alabaster and marble. “Vetter let us bring home scrap so I got a lot of limestone from them,” he said. “I have a supplier for alabaster in Eagan.”
Much of Anderson’s work involves animals or human figures. He often leaves a section of raw rock to contrast with the finished piece. “Garden sculptures are my favorites,” Anderson smiled. “When I first started I wanted museum-quality work. Now I like things that blend in a little more.”
“I rarely use a drawing,” Anderson continued. “The construction trades really help me picture things and I have a computer graphics program which helps me think three dimensional. But the ideas come from the piece of stone. People request items I wouldn’t have done on my own, but it’s turned out to be some of my best work.”
The nature of Anderson’s medium also dictates he be flexible with his designs. “Limestone is unpredictable,” he said. “You can come upon a hole in the rock and you have to make changes in the original plan.”
Anderson said an 18-inch square of limestone will weigh about 200 to 250 pounds and his largest finished piece weighed about 400 pounds. “I don’t want to make them too heavy,” he chuckled, “but too heavy for people to walk off with them.”
Samples of his work can be found at the Stone Throw Gallery, Edenvale Nursery in Mankato and Traverse des Sioux Garden Center in St. Peter. There are also examples on-line at www.skill-zone.com. He hopes to take part in area art shows and plans on exhibiting two or three times a month. “The cost of the shows is a big thing right now for me,” he said. “The better shows cost more.”
“I love it!” Anderson said about his life as a sculptor. “Everything about it is a good fit. When I was flooring I was never home. Now I get to see my family. I get to see my kids.”
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