Direct carving in stone and wood requires understanding how each material behaves before you ever pick up a chisel
Choosing the right stone or wood is as creative a decision as any cut you’ll make
Surface treatment, negative space, and tool selection all shape the final piece as much as the carving itself
Sustainable sourcing and thoughtful studio setup make the practice more responsible and more enjoyable
This silo brings together everything I know about working with natural materials as an abstract figurative sculptor
At work in the studio.
Over the past few years, I’ve fielded a lot of questions about how I work. What tools do I use? How do I pick a stone? What’s the difference between carving alabaster and marble? Why don’t I sand my wood pieces?
I love these questions, because they get at something I care deeply about: the relationship between a sculptor and her materials. So I decided to write it all down, in one dedicated place on my site. I’m calling it the Materials and Techniques in Abstract Figurative Sculpture guide, and it’s the most thorough thing I’ve put together about how I actually work.
Here’s a look at what’s inside.
Where It All Begins: Choosing Your Stone
Every piece starts with a choice. When I pick up a rough block of alabaster or marble, I’m already thinking about what it might become. The color, the weight, the way light moves through it, whether there are veins or inclusions I’ll need to work around or work with.
I wrote about this at length in Alabaster and Marble Selection for Abstract Figurative Sculpture. Alabaster is softer and more translucent, which makes it forgiving in some ways but delicate in others. Marble is harder and more demanding, but the results can be stunning. Knowing those differences before you start is not optional.
The Carving Itself: Direct Carving from Traditional to Contemporary
I’m a direct carver. That means I don’t work from a model or a detailed drawing. I let the material show me what it wants to be. It sounds simple, but it took years to trust that process.
The page on direct carving techniques from traditional to contemporary approaches walks through what direct carving actually looks like in practice, how it differs from other sculptural methods, and why I think it produces work that feels more alive. It’s the closest thing to a philosophy statement I’ve written about technique.
Tools: What I Actually Use
People are often surprised to learn how simple my tool kit is. A hammer. Chisels. The same tools carvers have used for centuries. But there’s real skill in knowing which chisel to reach for and how to hold it.
If you want to understand the physical side of carving, the essential tools and techniques for abstract figurative carving page covers this well. From roughing out a form to the finer work of shaping and refining, the tools guide the decisions as much as I do.
The Space Around the Form: Negative Space
This is one of my favorite topics. Negative space in sculpture is not empty. It’s active. The areas you carve away define what remains just as much as the material itself does.
I spent a lot of time thinking through how to explain this clearly in Mastering Negative Space in Direct Carving. If you’ve ever looked at one of my pieces and felt pulled through it visually, negative space is doing that work.
Surface and Finish: The Last Conversation with the Material
A carving isn’t finished when the form is done. The surface is its own decision. Do you leave the tool marks? Polish to a high sheen? Apply a wax? Each choice changes how the piece reads in different lighting and from different distances.
Going Further: Mixed Media and Combining Materials
I work almost exclusively in natural stone and wood, but I wanted to include a discussion of what happens when sculptors bring multiple materials together. There’s a long tradition of this, and some of the results are extraordinary.
I’ll be honest: I’m traditional in my methods. I don’t use digital tools in my own carving process. But I know many contemporary sculptors are incorporating 3D modeling and CNC milling into their practice, and it’s a real conversation in the field.
Responsibility: Sustainable Materials and Practices
Stone and wood are natural resources. Where they come from matters. How they’re extracted matters. I’ve become more conscious of this over the years, and I think about sourcing differently than I did when I started.
None of this matters if your studio isn’t set up in a way that lets you focus. Dust management, lighting, storage for raw materials, how you position a piece while you work on it, these things have a real effect on the quality of what you make.
What materials does I use in her abstract figurative sculptures?
Carol works primarily with natural stones and woods. Her stones include alabaster, soapstone, Carrara marble, and limestone. Her woods include black walnut, sassafras, cedar, applewood, and black locust. Each material presents different carving challenges and visual qualities that shape the finished piece.
What is direct carving and how does it differ from other sculpture methods?
Direct carving means working without a model or detailed plan, allowing the material itself to guide decisions during the carving process. Unlike sculptors who create a detailed maquette first, direct carvers respond to what the stone or wood reveals as they work. Unexpected knots, fissures, or grain patterns become part of the composition rather than obstacles to overcome.
Carving of an abstract figurative sculpture made of catalpa wood.
Why don’t I sand my wood sculptures?
Sanding closes the grain of the wood and creates a surface that feels inert. By using carving tools to finish the surface instead, Carol preserves the texture and visual life that makes wood distinct. She believes this keeps the pieces “alive” in a way that sanding cannot.
How do you choose between alabaster and marble for a sculpture?
The choice depends on the intended piece. Alabaster is softer, more translucent, and often easier to carve in detail. Marble is harder, more durable, and carries a different visual weight. Carol’s page on alabaster and marble selection walks through this decision in practical terms.
What tools does a direct carver typically use?
The primary tools are hammers and chisels, the same instruments that have served carvers across centuries. The specific chisels vary depending on the stage of the work: roughing out a form requires different tools than refining detail or finishing a surface. The essential tools and techniques page covers this in full.
How important is negative space in abstract figurative sculpture?
Negative space is as important as the material itself. The voids in a sculpture direct the eye, create rhythm, and give the work visual energy. For Carol, learning to think of negative space as an active element rather than an absence was a significant shift in how she approaches each piece.
Wrapping Things Up
I hope this guide and related pages becomes a useful resource for anyone curious about what goes into carving abstract figurative sculpture.
Whether you’re a collector wanting to understand what you’re looking at, or someone thinking about learning to carve, I tried to write it the way I wish someone had explained it to me at the beginning.
