[naish510]

WOW André that's amazing !!!! Congratulations !!!!!

[bwalters]

Wow Anrdre' It looks great. You and your family are very talented.

[Lia]

OMG

FANTASTIC!!!!!!! I`m glad, you got such inspiraton from my statuesmurf

Lia

[naish510]

I think you should start a shop now !!!

[André]

The european "speckstein" are a little bit to hard for this handcraft, so as told before these stones are originally from Brazil and China.

So Lia, I probably will mark it Hering, made in Brazil!!

Actually I have already marked it with my name!

[André]

Wow Anrdre' It looks great. You and your family are very talented.

Thanks Bill,

we are talented in different ways I guess. My wife is the real artist and makes lovely creations. But she is not that good in copying things.

I have always been pretty good making copies. Both when I paint and handcraft things. But to me that is not art.

And maybe that is why I don´t like fakers. I know how easy it is to make fakes. But at the same time I love well-made or nicely painted fakes because I know it takes a while to make them and that time could be worth something.

The thing with stone and wood( which I also love) is that sometimes a larger piece breaks and that can not be repaired compared with for example clay. So you have to make small steps all the time.

So when Lia showed her sunbather in stone I thought that must be one of the best smurfs to make in stone since it has no arms held out or and tools. It is very compact.

[Lia]

So Lia, I probably will mark it Hering, made in Brazil!!

Actually I have already marked it with my name!

I`m always looking for markings from brazilian smurfs
I still need a variation, that`s marked: andré, made in sweden
so.........

Lia

[steveparkes]

Wow, thats great Andre, you've inspired me to want to try now I am more used to sculpting things in clay though (I'm a potter)

[André]

Wow, thats great Andre, you've inspired me to want to try now I am more used to sculpting things in clay though (I'm a potter)

Try it Steve!! I bet you love it!! I have tried clay many times and my wife worked in a pottery a short while when she went to school.

The thing with stone is as you might already know to try to avoid the layers. In both stone and wood ( growth rings) you have layers were it easily breaks, but only one way. So for example with this smurf I had a layer on one of the feets( see picture). And it would be a shame if it broke there when I gotten so far, so I didn´t make the feets as small as I first planned.

It would not be the same if you had to glue it back, right??

I looked the word up now and find that it is called soap stone in english. And Maureen told me someone had tried this before on the forum??

[angelsmurf]

I still need a variation, that`s marked: andré, made in sweden
so.........

Lia

This were my first thoughts too! I suppose this is the first smurf "made in Sweden".

André you have a good talent, you should try to make your own personal statue of the 3 xmas prototypes.
I think you could - if you would have an original model.

André the Clonemaker

[André]

I still need a variation, that`s marked: andré, made in sweden
so.........

Lia

This were my first thoughts too! I suppose this is the first smurf "made in Sweden".

André you have a good talent, you should try to make your own personal statue of the 3 xmas prototypes.
I think you could - if you would have an original model.

André the Clonemaker

You absolutly right Stefan!!

I must have something to look at. Then it is easy. Just make it look the same as the original.

If I would make a new one I would have to start thinking and create something new??? And then it would likely be closer to failure than success!!

[stampysmurf]

Wow Andre! You did a fantastic job!!

[Tojo]

Your sunbather is truly beautiful André & I think you are very talented.

I have only ever made a horse's head in soapstone but it was good fun (I gave it away as a present so don't have it any more).

It looks like you'll be able to sell the waste from making your smurf as talcum powder - you just need to add a drop of perfume A lot of people probably don't know it but soapstone is used, apart from as talcum powder, as an ingredient in toothpaste.

[André]

I didn´t know that Tojo!!

I know it is extremly good for cooling and heating and that it contains sometimes more than 80% talcum powder. I think they sell stonecubes in soapstone to use instead of icecubes. Maybe I should use the sunbather to keep my bacardi cold???

[Lia]

Have you lost your mind André???

[angelsmurf]

Maybe I should use the sunbather to keep my bacardi cold???

no, you shouldn't, because it's a sunbather - not a swimmer

[André]

Have you lost your mind André???

Since I lost that many years ago Lia, I didn´t understand that part!!!

Actually I thought he smiled a lot more when he was in the drink Lia??

Don´t worry.

You know there is a reason they use soapstone for fireplaces. It can go from extreme cold to extreme heat without breaking!!

[Lia]

I can understand that smile!
I would smile too if I could swim in a bacardipool!

a big to your sunbather on the rocks!

Lia

[Tojo]

Ha, ha that's a funny photo André

It would be a good entry for a 2011 forum calender

[schtroumpfette]

Fantastic André!