I select a boulder of granite (or sandstone or marble) with a pleasing shape and texture which will be appropriate for my design. Then I carve (with diamond saws and grinders) softer curves and softer textures. It is with these smooth curved lines and surfaces that the stone comes to life. The eye follows the lines which are in relationship and dialogue with the natural roughness of the boulder; there is movement and then the stone comes alive.

When a stone breaks in nature, the separation follows the cleave plane of the crystalline structure of the stone's minerals. I carve and shape each boulder along its natural cleave planes, giving it the appearance of a natural rough boulder but with no tool marks. I then sculpt the softer, polished curves into that natural texture and shape.

Gallery I — Available Sculptures (To view Welton's work, click on the thumbnails to the left.) When I sculpt I not only carve the stone, I also shape the pattern of the water flow over the stone and the quality of the sound that the water makes as it courses through these patterns. My teacher has been the California Sierra Nevada mountains: the foothills, the gold country, the buttes and lakes, the high country, and of course the majestic Yosemite Valley. The Sierras are...STONE, WATER, and SOUND. San Francisco Garden Show
I select a boulder of granite (or sandstone or marble) with a pleasing shape and texture which will be appropriate for my design. Then I carve (with diamond saws and grinders) softer curves and softer textures. It is with these smooth curved lines and surfaces that the stone comes to life. The eye follows the lines which are in relationship and dialogue with the natural roughness of the boulder; there is movement and then the stone comes alive. When a stone breaks in nature, the separation follows the cleave plane of the crystalline structure of the stone's minerals. I carve and shape each boulder along its natural cleave planes, giving it the appearance of a natural rough boulder but with no tool marks. I then sculpt the softer, polished curves into that natural texture and shape.