Wild Traditions When the Stone Speaks By Julia Prinselaar
Anywhere she moves, Deborah Spear carries rocks with her. Inspired by the geology and wildlife along Lake Superior’s North Shore, the Manitoba native began working with soapstone, also known as steatite, about 12 years ago after taking a carving class in Thunder Bay. I watched her from across a table as she grasped the handle of a 12-inch bow saw and ran it across a piece of the soft, metamorphic rock. The carbide blade smoothly sliced through the material, leaving a trace of fine, white powder that collected on a towel. Without the use of any power tools, this is Spear’s first step for carving—rough cuts to hone the basic shape of her next piece, be it a bear, a turtle, an owl or other woodland creature. She follows with a rasp to grind the stone into a more distinct shape, followed by varying grades of wetted sandpaper and diamond bit files that look like dentistry tools for the etching of eyes and other detailed features. “I take a really open-ended, playful approach to carving. I look at [the stone] and I get an idea of what it could potentially be,” she tells me, gesturing to the shallow corners of a rock that extend outward, form-
Stone carver Deborah Spear works on a turtle carving. | JULIA PRINSELAAR ing what looks like the head, shell and feet of a turtle. “My goal is to work with the size and shape of the stone as it is.” The use of soapstone dates to antiquated times. Ancient Egyptians carved it into jewelry and charms of symbolic creatures like the scarab beetle. In Asia, the Chinese
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With two hands, Spear hoists the carving of a black bear and passes it onto my lap. It feels like it weighs about 20 pounds. Striations of greyish green cut across the rock from its haunches to its back, culminating to an upward-gazing head. Its rearend, pitted and speckled, leans to one side.
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created seals used to stamp art and documents of significance. In northern Canada, the Inuit originally carved from bone and ivory, but began using soapstone after contact with southern settlers and traders who had a penchant for carved objects to carry with them.
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