ABOUT DARRELL VANGE
​
I have never been able to resist a hand-painted roadway sign that says "Rock Shop". I started collecting mineral and crystal specimens forty years ago, not because I am an amateur geologist, far from it, but because I found the beauty in nature to be more compelling than most man-made art. In time, my home became a natural history museum, cluttered with bugs and butterflies, rocks and crystals.
​
Along the way, I accumulated samples of rough stone, which has to be cut and polished to expose the beauty within. After number of false starts, I learned that one of my business associates, Ken Barnes, is also a professional sculptor. Ten years ago, Ken invited me to use his Seattle studio, and I now spend a few days every month cutting, grinding and polishing rocks.
​
The rough material comes from rockhounds around the world, purchased on road trips to Oregon or Colorado, or often bought online. The individual stones weigh from 20 to 80 pounds, with a few 100 to 200 pound stones in the rock pile. Most of the stone is either jasper or agate, with examples of obsidian, zoisite, serpentine and mookaite in the collection.
​
I use a pneumatic angle grinder with a 4" saw blade or grinding wheels to shape the stone, and then switch to polishing pads to polish the stones. One piece will take four or five studio days, or 20 to 40 hours of work. Sculpting is a hobby and I produce only five or six pieces a year, and would happily keep them all but the house is starting to become cluttered.
​