Sculpture art for sale in a beautiful garden setting - I never dreamed it, but sometimes life through a series of circumstances can lead you in a new direction. This is how the Sculpture Garden came to be. A friend of mine has beautiful sculptures displayed in her garden, and I decided it would be nice to enhance my extensive gardens with some unique sculptures. I started looking, but was disappointed with what I found. Most things were off the shelf. Next came a knee injury which had me questioning how long I would be able to continue my physically demanding job. Then a holiday down in Marlborough where we visited an Art gallery that had a beautiful tuatara carved out of stone. It wasn’t for sale but the idea was born. I love Africa and its people and had visited Zimbabwe several times in the past. I had lamented that I could only bring home smaller pieces of their beautiful stone sculptures in my suitcase. So now the only problem is parting with them, as I bought what I loved and to my mind every last piece is exquisite – but you be the judge.
First of all I’d like to say Zimbabwean people are lovely. Given the difficult lives they have, this becoming all the more difficult with Covid, they are still friendly positive upbeat people.
It was wonderful to see the happy faces of these talented artists after each purchase. The Zimbabwean government is unable to help them as the country struggles to get back on its feet, so I hope I helped in some small way, and you by extension when you purchase a sculpture.
While I was talking with each stone sculpture artist there was the musical tink tink tink in the background as the other artists plied their stone with hammer and chisel. I loved the wave of artists that would magically appear in front of their area as I approached and then disappear back to the work area once the sale was completed.
Zimbabwean stone sculpture, also known as Shona Sculpture, is world renowned and collected by many art enthusiasts. The sculptures are hand crafted by the artists, each piece unique and innovative. I am constantly amazed at the talent of the artists. There is no soapstone used. Only hard and durable serpentine rock is sold. This comes from the Great Dyke, a 2.5 billion year old horseshoe shaped geological formation only found in Zimbabwe. The stone in the great dyke has an astonishing range of colours and types allowing artists to produce a variety of beautiful sculptures that are both durable and eye catching.
The artist ply the stone with hammer and chisel, raspers, some with electric grinders, and then sand paper, creating unique pieces. The final stage is the heating and waxing to reveal the beautiful colour of the stone.
This is a beautiful stone that is a translucent green shade that is quite uniform in colour.
Comes in a red/purple colour, sometimes with lighter markings of green, yellow and white..
A uniform brown colour which gives an earthy feel to the sculpture.
The hardest of the stones used by the artists, it polishes to a black shine due to its density. Sometimes the artists leave the natural reddish brown oxidised outer layer of the Springstone to provide an interesting contrast in the pieces.
Also a very hard stone, it comes in multi colours within the same piece which makes it a very attractive and popular stone.
Another very hard stone. It has a yellow background with dark blotches, sometimes resembling a leopards marking, thus the name.
Focal Point Sculptures
Phone: 027 2985798
Email: Focalpointsculpturesnz@gmail.com
ADDRESS
167 Simpson Road, Henderson Valley, Waitakere, Auckland.
We are open
Hours: Saturday and Sunday 10 to 4pm or anytime by appointment (simply ring or text us)
027 2985798
Winter Hours: July and August by appointment.
closed
Week Days unless by appointment