Stone related books for Christmas

Stone related books make great presents for your stone mad friends. Here are a few stone related books I recommend checking out if you are looking for some great christmas presents. Just remember if you're planning on ordering your books online, get ordering soon to be sure you receive them before Christmas.
Most of the links provided have free worldwide shipping. Some of the books need to be ordered from the artist's direct but I have added these links also. The prices I have shown are correct as of time of writing this post.
So in no particular order here are my recommendations for Christmas 2016:

A Legacy in Stone… The Artistry of Andreas Kunert

Andreas Kunert is a stone artist based in Victoria, Canada. He has a substantial and impressive portfolio of work. Much of his work has gone completely viral on the internet, popping up all over the place.

This book is a lovely catalogue of much of his work and a great addition to your bookshelf. 

Order this book here through the artists website 

http://www.ancientartofstone.com/a-legacy-in-stone-the-artistry-of-andreas-kunert/ 

Price $45.00 plus P&P

The Andy Goldsworthy Project

Andy Goldsworthy's beautiful ephemeral artworks have been rendered timeless in numerous photographic records. This book deals with Goldsworthy's work in nearly twenty years, and underscores the artists permanent output since 1984.

Many of his great stone creations are in this book.

A lovely chunky coffee table book. 

Click on the link below to buy with free worldwide shipping.

Price: €33.44 (including shipping and 20% off via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/qakfyka

Andy Goldsworthy : Enclosure

Reflecting Goldsworthy's lifelong interest in the landscape of the British Isles, its history, and the people who work on it, Enclosure is a collection of ephemeral work that relates to sheep, including many of his dry stone enclosures.

A lovely chunky coffee table book. 

Click on the link below to buy with free worldwide shipping.

Price: €33.99 (including shipping and 43% off via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/jt38a4u

Stone by Design: The Artistry of Lew French

More than 125 gorgeous photographs showcase the beauty of award-winning stonemason Lew French's work in eight different homes, illustrating how rounded fieldstone, gray slate, rough granite, and even curvy driftwood can be incorporated into stunning pieces of functional art. 

I did a blog post on his work a while back which you can read here.

Click on the link below to buy with free worldwide shipping.

Price: €29.37 (including shipping via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/n3r8cch

Lew French's new book
Released just this summer, this second book on Lew French's most recent designs includes works like the huge outdoor water feature at an office building near Boston. A residential landscape on Chappaquiddick, as well as his own retreat home in the mountains of Brazil. Also featured are his framed art pieces, puzzled together from rock and driftwood

 Fans of natural building and all kinds of masonry will be more than impressed. 

I did a blog post on his work a while back which you can read here.

Click on the link below to buy with free worldwide shipping.

Price: €24.90 (including shipping and 11% off via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/j6hll2h

Dan Snow: Listening to Stone

Listening to Stone is Dan Snows follow up to his first book  In the Company of Stone. In this second book Dan once again proves that he is not just one of America's premier artisans, but also one of our most articulate voices on the natural world and our relationship to it. Peter Mauss's tactile photographs of Snow's artistry are matched by the artisan's quietly compelling prose.

Click on the link below to buy with free worldwide shipping.

Price: €18.97 (including shipping and 11% off via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/o9ztlq7

The Complete Pebble Mosaic Handbook

Maggy Howarth is one of the world's foremost pebble mosaic experts, known for the innovative traditional and contemporary designs she has used to create outdoor mosaics around the world.

This new edition is updated, revised and expanded by 32 pages to incorporate many new inspirational designs from the author's studio, Cobblestone Designs, including an experiment in 3-D, spirals and roundels, and large mosaic designs for community spaces. There is also a special section that explores pebble mosaics as a decorative art throughout history.

The book provides practical step-by-step instructions for creating mosaics using traditional and modern materials, tools and techniques. The 400 beautiful color photographs and illustrations offer inspiration and make this a stunning how-to book and wish-book.

Click on the link below to buy with free worldwide shipping.

Price: €31.39 (including shipping and 6% off via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/hv8kg29

Corbelled Domes

Corbelled domed structures are both fascinating and ancient in technique. The process of corbeling has remained unchanged for thousands of years. The proof of this is that many of these ancient structures still stand today, a testament to their solid construction method. Renate Lobbecke has been tracking down such structures for over 25 years. On her travels in 15 countries she has captured photographs depicting this unique phenomenon of designed nature."

Definitely recommend this one. You can find it in the link below with free worldwide shipping.

Price: €45.03 (including shipping and 6% off via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/mdt57ag

Stone : A Legacy and Inspiration for Art

Stone: A Legacy and Inspiration for Art is a beautiful, visually stimulating book, exploring the delights of contemporary stone sculpture and stone carving. Stone is a major resource and inspiration for artists, craft-workers, and scholars in many areas, and also has huge attraction for a wider public, given its high visual impact, dramatic footage and timely re-evaluation of often hidden professions. Stone offers an introduction to the traditional techniques of stone carving and reviews methods of extraction that are dying out. The authors traveled worldwide learning, interviewing and photographing these unique processes. The photographs in this book show the stunning results. The book then goes on to look at the work of crafts people today in contemporary stone sculpture.

Click on the link below to buy with free worldwide shipping.

Price: €25.40 (including shipping and 13% off via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/hrue564

The Art of Letter Carving in Stone

"The Art of Letter Carving in Stone" portrays the beauty of this age-old craft alongside practical instruction. Written by an eminent practitioner and teacher, it guides the novice through the basics of letter carving, drawn lettering and making simple designs, and for the more experienced it explains a new proportioning system for classical Roman capitals and demonstrates a useful approach to designing letterform variations.
A great book for those who carve stone or wish to begin carving.

Click on the link below to buy with free shipping.

Price: €21.65 (including shipping and 31% off via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/j23gong

Irish Stone Walls: History, Building, Conservation by Pat McAfee

A unique history and 'how to' book on one of Ireland's most distinctive landscape features - the stone wall. The Irish countryside is a patchwork of over 250,000 miles of stone wall.

A great little book on Irish stone walls. By the great Irish waller Pat McAfee.

The Book depository have a great 18% off deal on this book at the moment so its just over €14 with free worldwide shipping. See link below

http://tinyurl.com/qy2l4hv

Dry Stone Walling. A Practical Guide

Dry Stone Walling. A Practical Guide

by Alan Brooks and Sean Adcock

159 pages 

A4 paperback, wiro-bound 

391 illustrations, by Linda Francis and Elizabeth Agate

 Dry stone walling is one of the most ancient building techniques, used worldwide where stone outcrops at the earth's surface. Britain's varied geology has produced a wide range of building styles, which demonstrate the waller's skill in making the best use of the locally available stone.

Price: £12.95 plus P&P via the link below

http://tinyurl.com/j644xkz

How to Build Dry-Stacked Stone Walls : Design and Build Walls, Bridges and Follies Without Mortar

Author John Shaw-Rimmington explains how to build a dry stacked stone wall, coursed walling, bridges, follies and more. He explains the important principles that contribute to the structural integrity of each. He covers all of the essential elements of dry stone building: * Design; * The foundation; * Packing or backfilling within the wall; * Slope of a wall face, an 'A' profile provides stability; * Bridge stones that span the width of the wall; * Coping, the top stones of a wall; * Weight-bearing stones in an arch, bridge, dome, etc. Shaw-Rimmington then guides the reader through the building process. With dedication to the task and the author's experienced guidance, the only limit is imagination. Click on the link below to buy with free shipping.

Price: €18.86 (including shipping and 23% off via the link below) http://tinyurl.com/hs8cdfa

The Art of the Stonemason

A fifth-generation stonemason discusses how to choose stone, build a wall on sloping ground, circular walls, windowsills, fireplaces, stairs, arches and hunchbacked bridges. 

A great practical guide to building stone features for anyone with some experience in stone building.

Click on the link below to buy with free shipping.

Price: €20.14 (including shipping via the link below)

http://tinyurl.com/lxnyfhf

Europe’s field boundaries

Written in two volumes 

Georg Muller has written a most wonderful book called 'Europe's Field Boundaries in 2 volumes. Georg basically spent the last 30 years traveling around Europe surveying dry stone walls, hedged banks etc in most European countries (Ireland, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Greece etc etc)

The books have almost 1300 pages and 5000 colour images. 

The books are beautifully bound with gold leaf and are a very special collection indeed, they are a real investment and highly recommendable. 

Information on how to order the books in the link below

Price for the two volumes together is €289 plus P&P

http://www.wallhecke.de/

This is just a few of the great stone related books that are out there. I have lots more book recommendations in the book recommendations section of my blog here. 

Miniature stoneworks. Giants amongst pebbles.

'The inner circle' by land artist Jaime Filipe

Miniature stoneworks may look like the real deal close up, but they are in fact far more complicated to build and also cannot withstand the same abuse as large scale stonework. In general stonework can take a lot of abuse , only really taking damage by human error when being hit by a vehicle or if poorly built. Miniature stoneworks are a lot more fragile, a dangling sleeve,a strong gust of wind or even  placing a stone with too much conviction can bring the whole thing crumbling down. This is why I think I will stick to the big stuff and leave the miniature stuff to the real pros,
Below are a few examples of some great miniature stoneworks and a bit about a few of the artists as well.

American environmental artist Sally J. Smith builds these wonderful fairy houses below, and shares with me a little about her stone fairy houses.

 Emerald Mossy Fairy House by artist Sally J. Smith

The Emerald Mossy Fairy House was a relatively large construction built on a woodlands trail. It took a week to build... 2 of those days were spent gathering the stones and bringing them in to the site. The large mossy boulder-cliff already looked like a house in Sally's eyes..."it just needed a little encouraging to bring it out!" A Weeping Willow twig branch was twisted and woven to make the large window. A shelf fungus was found nearby and used as an awning to protect the entrance-way. A small dormer room was added later. The stone walling portion is approx 30 inches high.

Building sequence of Emerald Mossy Fairy House

Side view of Emerald Mossy Fairy House

Riverstone tower by  Sally J. Smith 

This was one of  Sally's first stone sculptures. Finding all different colours of stone  along the river, Sally  tried to graduate the shading as she built the tower up from a very special pothole which was now exposed along the bank due to the low water of mid-summer. "The tower took many pleasant days to build. I found a few very special stones that looked like fanciful gargoyles so I saved them to line the access bridge". Moss was brought in as were some ferns and wildflowers. The house had a special visitor one day...can you spot it? The tower was enjoyed by a lot of people who saw it. "After it had been up for about 2 weeks, we had a flash flood. I rushed to the river and took one final image because I knew the river was going to flood over night. I came back the next morning and it was all down and deep underwater. A week later I came back to a pothole full of small stones. I cleared out the shards and distributed them along the banks....grateful for the experience"

Detail of riverstone tower

Rock Garden Stone Cottage by  Sally J. Smith

"A sweet little Stone cottage to grace a rock garden. When I made it I had installed one window design, but eventually I figured out how to bend a Weeping Willow branch into a Celtic-styled window so I installed that one instead. A grey slate heart made by the wave actions of the nearby lake forms the back of the wee stone bench in the Faerie-sized garden out back. The "Standing Stone" is an homage to Scotland and the lovely stones I was able to meet on my many trips there. The last photo is mainly for fun and to also give a sense of scale...sometimes it is hard to know what the scale is on these houses...that is part of the fun! This house lasted for several years. Eventually the weight of an especially snowy winter killed off the moss and a cat landing on the roof went thru the moss and the house was not repairable...so the stones are waiting in a basket for another day"

Door detail of  Rock Garden Stone Cottage

Rock Garden Stone Cottage with a cat thrown in for scale

The Shire House by Sally J. Smith

 The Shire House was built along a mountain stream. There was a trail nearby used by hikers and campers. The house took several days to complete. While it was under construction Sally left a small sign asking folks to please respect the artwork. One day Sally came to work and found a message written in pebbles under the mossy bank. ~"That was fun!" Several days later Sally returned to see how the house was doing....sadly, a wild animal had ripped it apart. "There were some VERY large canine tracks in the sandy beach...another message this time, not so nice. I suspect it was either a large wolf-coyote hybrid or just a hikers large dog. I took all the stones and put them back in the river and cleaned up the moss. It was sad to see it go but the river gives and takes all the time."

The Shire House with a message left by a fan.

The Shire House under construction

These fairy houses are only a small part of some of the gorgeous work Sally does so be sure to check out her website www.greenspiritarts.com to see some of her other work. She also takes commissions if you want a fairy house of your own or just order on of her lovely calenders that have prints of the ones she already has created.

UK based landscaper/ artist David Wood of Wood Landscapes has recently started making these wonderfully accurate miniature stonework. The detail in these is just astounding.

Miniature stone bridge by David Wood 

See more pictures of these as well as his latest works on his facebook page WoodLandscapes and while you are at it check out his other facebook page too Inspired.

The Miniature Barn by David Wood 

The Miniature Barn by David Wood

Slightly more abstract German land artist and stone balancer extraordinaire Volker Paul creates these unavailable miniature stoneworks. It is hard to even comprehend the hours and patience it must take to create these, as well as deal with all the failed attempts. 

Beautifully delicate land art by Volker Paul

Land art by Volker Paul

Land art by Volker Paul

Land art by Volker Paul

Land art by Volker Paul

If you are into stone balancing (see my post on stone balancing here) I highly recommend checking out some of his other work as he is one of the most impressive balancing artist I have ever come across. (I called him a balancing artist rather than a stone balancer as some of the things he balances are truly mind bending!) Photos of his work can be found on his facebook page here

Land art by Volker Paul

North Carolina based stonemason Michael Stephens custom builds these great little stone buildings for clients. Micheal began building miniature stone houses more than twenty years ago after visiting a miniature replica tourist attraction in Canada. Constructed dry-stack style with reinforced concrete, they are weather hardy and very durable. They can be used in a model railroad, terrarium, aquarium, fairy garden, miniature zen garden and in homes as a conversation piece or gardens for accent.
If you wish to see more of his work or wish to order your very own one you can contact him through his website http://stoneworkbystephens.com/miniatures

Miniature stoneworks by Michael Stephens

Miniature stoneworks by Michael Stephens

Miniature stoneworks by Michael Stephens

Miniature stoneworks by Michael Stephens

For the traditionalists out there I have come across many miniature drystone walls also. Many of these built by dry stone wallers trying to pass the time during long winter nights.

Dry Stone Wall built by Ashley Meadows. Photo curtsy of Rocking Walls.com

The stone wall above was spotted my Mark Jurus of Rocking Walls.  On his way back down from Vermont he stopped in to see his good friends from the DSC doing a workshop in PA. Mark spotted this great miniature Dry Stone Wall built by Ashley Meadows from KY. The size of this is about 5 inches high by 12 inches long.

Miniature stonewall landscape by David Wood

Miniature dry stone walls by artist/musician Tony Wright 

When not in his printing press or rocking it out with his Bradford based band Terrorvision Tony Wright makes these great little miniature dry stone walls, complete with traditional features.

Miniature dry stone walls by artist/musician Tony Wright 

Miniature dry stone walls by artist/musician Tony Wright 

Miniature dry stone wall by land artist  Ian Rennie. See more of his lovely land art in his flickr set here

I have even come across a miniature dry stone walling course. The Yorkshire Dry Stone Walling Academy in the UK offer a mini dry stone walling training course that is aimed a junior groups, such as Cubs and Scouts. The half day training courses show the attendees how to build a dry stone wall and using the specially prepared kits that allow each attendee to construct their own replica dry stone wall to take away using the same materials and principles of walling construction to produce a 1:24 replica of a dry stone wall. Find out more about these courses here. 

I thought that I could not end the post without representing some of Ireland's unique dry stone walls, so I had a go at building a few miniature walls of my own.
My first miniature wall is single stone wall common in Donegal and Down where large rocks are stacked and wedged together leaving large gaps between the stones.

The second wall I attempted was one of Ireland's iconic dry stone walls, a feidín wall, usually found in the Burren in Co. Clare and on the Aran Islands. A 'feidín wall' has the smaller stones on the bottom with the big stones on top. This type of wall is made up of a double sided wall on the bottom with a large single stone wall on top. The double sided wall at the bottom is often made up of a series of large upright stones called mother stones, that run the full depth of the wall. The space between them is built up with smaller stones known as daughter stones. The upper part of the wall is then built using large stones only a single stone wide. The result is a extremely strong wall with a dense base to shelter animals and protect the soil from the strong prevailing winds, while the cracks and holes in the top of the wall let wind filter through. The light that shines through the cracks makes the wall look unstable, deterring animals from jumping on it.

This wall is also quite difficult to build in miniature, the hardest part being trying to 'heart' the wall. (back pinning the stones in the centre of the wall) Thirsty work too. And anyone who has been to Feile na gCloch  will be able to tell you, you can't build a feidín wall with out a pint of Stout (or maybe that's just me)

Thanks to all the artists above for kindly giving me permission to share their photos with you.