How many rocks do you pick up to find one stone?

Rick enjoyed the outdoors. He especially loved searching for that perfect piece... The one in a million stone that he could see unlocking potential in through his creative process. As I continue to learn more about all the intricacies of Rick's process I ran across this write up and thought I'd share with you some of his perspective on the question: How many rocks do you pick up to find one stone?

"I have never kept count over a long period of time, but one day while working a river valley I counted over 300 rocks before I found one "stone" that I felt had an object that would justify the time to present an "Aha, I See It" moment in an optimal viewing position. It took over 5 hours including travel time from my home and back to find just this one stone. Let's not even discuss the cost of gasoline.

Once the stone is in my studio it is time to find out if it "works" because most stones are not blessed with a flat bottom. I avoid cutting the stone if possible, but one unseen cut is within the standards of practice of the art form. (Describing part of the process...) Even though the stone is very asymmetric when viewed it is balanced by weight. The stone is placed on a rice bag to see how deep a hole in the base is needed in order to support the stone. Often the stone will not "work" and is returned to its origin. I keep no boneyard of discarded stones and hopefully over time the stone with more weathering will be there for someone else to find." - Rick Klauber (Artist)

The idea that the art form is ever changing even at the inception stage of the artistic process is eloquent. It feels very spiritual on some level to me and aligned with nature. Even more amazing is the time and care to choose a stone that in the hands of an artist can inspire someone else to "see" something either in tandem with the artist or completely different.  - Hillary