Thea Alvin, Set in Stone

 Wow--these are just spectacular pictures of stone sculptures made by a Vermont woman named Thea Alvin.  She has been a master stone mason for over 25 years, and the experience shows.  Thankfully she teaches her technique so that her skill and knowledge will not necessarily end with her, because the gorgeous spirals that she designs and renders in stone are breathtaking to see.

I did not discover her--I read a long article in the New York Times, but I loved what I saw.  She does the sort of meticulous design that makes you pause.  That is just having seen the pictures--this summer I ventured to Warren, Vermont, where she teaches her art to others in order to  seeher work in person. On one of my all too infrequent trips to Vermont in the future I hope to get to Morrisville where she lives.  She charges her age per hour for her work--that whimsy seems in keeping with her work.  Fanciful but not selling herself short.

Fibonacci mathematics drives Thea's designs and sets the rules for the Roman Arches that she often builds. The Roman Arch is a semicircle where all angles between the stones point to the center of the circle. If this simple rule is obeyed the arch will stand.  Piece of cake--but when you are lifting and placing rock, figuring out which shape will work the very best, well, it seems more complicated than it sounds, but it is very beautiful when done right.