About the Artist :: John Lufty-Balzer (“Johnny B”)

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A sculpture as well a teacher, Johnny B’s Tumbled Stone Sculptures actually began as a garden experiment inspired by a friend. The bases are typically Deer Isle granite, which is used in buildings around the country. They have been sawn, ground, chiseled and flame-treated to their present shapes. The tumbled stones have been carried as much as half a mile from beaches, road sides and quarries in Maine and New Brunswick (the colored stones being from Canada). All are shaped by the action of the water. Some are shaped by glacial rivers created by receding glaciers 10,000 years ago. They are all uniquely beautiful granites, colored mostly by various feldspars.

Once the major tumbled stone is chosen, the rest of the sculpture builds itself. It determines the shape and size of the base and then all the other stones. Each sculpture is built free standing without shims. Every stone is marked, drilled, pinned and the sculpture reassembled. Each pin is glued with high grade silicon caulk on top of each stone to prevent water damage during the winter.