Petroglyphs or rock art are carvings in stone found in the landscape from coast to coast. Rock art was not always created for its own sake, but may have been part of ritualistic and social activities necessary to life at the time. Great care has been taken in creating these hand carved pieces. This artwork is created from natural sandstone. Cracks, fissures and differences in color and texture are inherent to this medium. Each stone has been put through a rigorous stabilization process that allows for years of enjoyment. The artwork will only obtain more character with time.

The sandstone is quarried from Lyons, Colorado and arrives on four foot by four foot pallets at our studio on the back of large trucks. The large four foot by four foot pieces are then washed under extreme pressure. Ron takes each large pieces and breaks them down along there natural fault lines and cracks. Then he stabilizes each piece so there will be no flaking during the rest of the process.

At this time he larger stones are set aside to be used for custom design that can reach four foot by four foot in size. The smaller pieces are put through a balancing process so we know where to put the hole on the back of the rock to insure that the piece will hang straight as well as stand. The hole is then put in the rock and it is sent out for another washing. Next it goes through a mineralization process to recreate the dark effect of “dessert varnish” on the stone. This ensures good contrast upon carving and takes quite a while as we are trying to duplicate what takes nature hundreds of thousand of years for nature to do in a much shorter time.

Once the piece has been “aged” Ron then selects it for a design. At this time he allows himself to see, hear and feel what design would best fit the stone. He then hand draws what he interprets would be a good fit on the rock and begins to carve. This is when the magic happens and the part he enjoys the most.