Teaching & Training

Stonework may be divided into trades:

Quarrying: Taking the stone out of the ground.

Stone cutting: Fabricating architectural pieces

Stonesetting, or stonelaying, or stone masonry:
Building things out of stone.

Stonecarving: Creating decorative or figurative works.

Lettering: A specific part of Carving.

The stone Mason falls in the middle of this spectrum. He must have some knowledge of all of it. In order to build fireplaces and chimneys he must master bricklaying and flashing. In addition he must be adept at basic carpentry, and understand the principles of building construction, roofing, plumbing, etc.

Historically the trade of masonry was passed down from masters to apprentices. I started out in Maine, working with Merton Reynolds and Guy Leeman in 1969. There is still no better method of Learning. Nevertheless people expect to learn in classrooms or from books. After you've read the book, taken the class, and watched the video you will still need to put your hands on a stone and begin. In 1976, Fran Merritt, of the Haystack Craft School in Maine asked me to teach a class for Haystack at Paolo Solari's, Arcosanti in Arizona. I have continued to teach since then.