Where shall I begin?

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe..... which one shall I try first?

I get so excited when it is time to select a new rock to work with, so many options, and not always enough time to get to them fast enough! Once I select the stone I want to use I take a chainsaw and/or a sawzall to it to bring it down into a more manageable size, once I have it cut down I will then take it to the bandsaw to make thick slabs for me to mark which creatures I would like to carve on them.

Stone carving is very hard on the hands, I used to pencil on my guide lines and hand saw and use dremel bits to bring down the stone to the outline of the creature I had visions to carve, but it was very taxing on my hands and arms, now instead of hand sawing or taking the dremel to it I use the band saw to help take the excess stone away faster, leaving my hand strength fresh for the actual forming of my sculptures.

“Where the material ends, Art begins.” - Étienne Hajdú