I was interested in doing another carving from soapstone, which I had enjoyed working with in the past. I was having trouble coming up with a suitable subject to carve, so I sort of gave up and just did my right thumb. Soapstone is quite soft as far as stone goes, so you don't need a hammer and chisel as you might with other materials; it can be scraped or sanded away. Of course any sharp tools that are used will be dulled by the abrasive particles
in the stone, so it is best to use tools where you don't care much about the edge.
Soapstone can be finished to a very smooth surface - I find that steel wool works well for that. There is also the occasional particle of harder material in the soapstone. These become apparent when finishing - the harder material does not get abraded away and you can be left with a slightly protruding particle, often of a different colour. That is what most of the light-coloured dots on the thumb above are due to.
| Material: | Soapstone |
| Construction: | Carved |
| Finish: | 3 coats Behr polyurethane varnish |
| Size: | 2.8" high |
| Done: | March 27, 1994 |
