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Carbone connects people and nature

rou sculpture

By A lene Benham

Phot s courtesy of sculpt r Ray Carbone

Inspired by shapes and colors in the natural world, Steuben sculptor Ray Carbone hopes his work will
encourage others to enjoy and protect nature. He works in wood, stone and bronze, creating interpretive
and abstract sculptures for indoors and out, as well as fine furniture and cabinetry.

Ray moved to Maine from Massachusetts in the early 1970s. “I arrived with $800 and a truckload of sal-
vaged antique material,” he recalled, then built his own house and shop. He did a variety of work at the
time including carpentry and clam-digging, moving into self-taught woodwork and a career making crafts-
man cabinets, tables and other abstract contemporary furniture.
Heron, white pine, oil paint,
life size.
Tables are his favorite furniture, especially using interesting and unique cuts of wood. Shape and grain
are important, and he enhances some pieces with patterns, such as birds flying out of the end of a table. He said it’s taken a lifetime
to develop his own skill and style, “but I’ve made a lot of beautiful custom work.” He partners with Geoff Zentz in Goose Island
woodworks which provides cabinetry, furniture, woodworking, and special projects such as the black locust bridge at Coastal Maine
Botanical Garden in Boothbay.
An inspiration for his furniture is George Nakashima, an architect and designer whose sculptural furniture used live edges, holes, and
“wood people wouldn’t call furniture grade,” and is now highly valued.
The carving and sculpture had early beginnings. At age 10, Ray started carving in his own little workshop, sharing space with his mo-
ther who designed dresses. Influences included the Boy Scouts and “outdoorsy” uncles. He carved animals and Scout-related things,
“and it got in my blood,” he said. Growing up, he stopped carving for a while, but began again upon arriving in Maine – and he still
has the childhood workbench. He started showing and selling his work in galleries in 1980 and opened his own gallery 15 years ago
on Pigeon Hill Cove in Steuben.

Ray’s captivated by the beauty and resilience of birds, which he calls inspiring creatures accessible to everyone. While he sometimes
looks for wood or stone to fit an idea, more often a piece of wood will suggest a shape. He uses locally-sourced wood like white cedar,
white pine, and maple, and he looks for pieces that have grain or color that will “flow like feathers”, which he doesn’t carve, or grain
that is oriented the right way for a bird’s bill. The shapes are representational abstracts, seeking to capture the motion and spirit of a
bird with its posture, limiting the realistic detail to the eyes and beak. “Not everyone can dig abstract sculpture,” he said, “but every-
one can recognize a bird. It’s a form I adopted to connect with nature, and to connect my carvings to people who appreciate the natu-
ral world.” He hopes people will enjoy his work and be inspired in turn to try to safe-guard nature.

Some of his work involves more abstract shapes, often inspired by scraps from Goose Island Woodworks’ sawmill. “Some really cool
things come off the mill” that would otherwise be thrown away, he said.

Bronze requires a much more intensive process, but these pieces also begin with original wood carvings to capture detail. They are
taken to Somerset Sculpture Foundry in Bath, where a two-part
silicone and plaster mold is made. Through “lost wax” casting – a Heron, cast bronze from the original wood carving, life size
technique thousands of years old – a hollow wax replica is made in
that mold. The wax is encased in a silica shell and then baked out.
Bronze at 2100 degrees is poured in and gases escape, then the cas-
ing is cracked off. The hollow bronze sculpture is sandblasted for
a smooth finish and here Ray does any needed detailing, adding or
removing bits of bronze. Patina is created by repeatedly applying
chemicals and heat. Finally, the cooled sculpture gets a coat of wax
“and it’s good for 10,000 years.” Ray said. Each piece gets a unique
base if one was not part of the mold.

Ray is a member of several art ad craft guilds and has won awards
for his interpretive pieces. He is currently focusing on outdoor
sculpture. His work may be viewed at Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay
Harbor and through June LaCombe Sculpture in Pownal. For more
information on Ray’s work and gallery at Pigeon Hill Cove, visit
www.raycarbonesculptor.com. see more sculptures by Ray on page 80 61