How do the artists carve the stone? Why is the surface so shiny?
The artists chip, chisel, sand and then wet-sand each piece. (Before sandpaper, artists would use river sand and a rag in their hands to smooth out the pieces.) Then they place the piece around, or in some cases actually in, a fire. They finish by putting floor polish on the heated piece which sinks into the piece and brings out the natural colors of the stone and makes it shiny. They keep reapplying the floor wax (they use Cobra wax, I use Johnson paste wax) until the surface cools. Then they buff it with a cloth which makes it nice and shiny. A piece like the Natural Inscribed Dancers demonstrates the amount of work that goes into each piece because it shows both the natural stone on the outside and the smooth, carved stone on the inside.
