Steve Lewis: Stone Carving

Shining whales leap out of rough hewn stone, a reclining walrus fits snugly into the natural shape of a big rock, polished dorsal fins form abstract sculptures.  Each exemplifies the beauty of granite as a medium for sculpture.

Steve Lewis’ sculptures begin as natural granite rocks, tumbled into rounded shapes by thousands of years of rushing river water. To find the right shapes and sizes, Lewis searches through sites in Northern California where dredging for gold from the 1870s to the 1950s left piles of rubble.  Hauling these rocks home is a fete in itself. Lewis chooses one that suits the design he has in mind and u sing myriad diamond  and carbide cutting, grinding and polishing tools he takes away rock to reveal  fluid  images against rough textured backgrounds and the varying nuances of  the granite.  His highly polished sculptures of dorsal fins are equally dramatic as abstract forms. This is Lewis’ debut exhibition of his stone sculpting.

Lewis began making large wood sculptures in the mid-sixties. His work was exhibited at the Vorpal Gallery in San Francisco and Petri’s Gallery in Sausalito. He also built custom residential homes.

Lewis grew up in Marin County, in Ross, and he and his wife Marlys raised their children in Stinson Beach. Later they moved to Bolinas where Lewis could keep his horses. Lewis says “While living on the northern California coast for forty years, I learned to love the beauty of the coast and all its wildlife.  Marine mammals and coastal birds are what inspire my art today.” Lewis takes part in the Bolinas Open Studios every year on Thanksgiving weekend.