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FAQs What stone is best for sculpting? Although I have carved in many stones ranging from alabaster to granite, I would say that limestone (either French or Portugese) is the most satisfying, and gives the best detail. What is your background as an artist? My background as an artist as a stone sculptor. Stone has a magical appeal to me, it has depth and therefore meaning. You've carved a lot of stone fireplaces — do you have a favourite piece? It's tough to pin down one particular favourite! The process of creating is, in itself … liberating. Favourites often change from year to year, as you get new challanges or requests. We've carved dogs, lions and even water buffalo in granite for the entrance to a large home, most of our work is in stone fireplace mantels. What accounts for the popularity for stone fireplaces? As the mid 1990's, more of a focus has been in the home due to increasingly busy schedules - family time had become a greater priority. People want warmth and beauty in their homes, and their surroundings to be comfortable, beautiful, and reflect their personal tastes. The warmth and beauty of stone is unparalleled; it blends with anything, and the stone fireplace just seemed to naturally evolve as a focal point. How do you design your fireplace creations? We specialize in both original stone pieces and cast stone fireplaces. The design phase involves either drawing inspiration from art and architecture, and creating sketches and layouts. One of our favourites was based on a sketch made by an interior designer after seeing an exquisite stone fireplace during a visit to a chateau in Fontainbleu. The result: The Fontainbleu fireplace mantel. Once the design is planned out, the sculpting stage begins, painstakingly sculpting the stone as we would any other piece of sculpture creating a unique original. From the originals that we have carved, we create molds so that we can cast these fireplace mantels in stone, and not just a cement mold. We use a unique blend of materials so that the cast pieces look strikingly like aged limestone. This is perhaps the most important part of our technique. Years of experience in working with stone has led us to an understanding and appreciation of it—and how to best replicate it in cast pieces. We now blend a number of colours and finishes from "open cast" (the most popular) to honed or antiqued finishes. We really are limited only by the imagination and requests of our clients.