Author Archives: Matthew Johnson

About Matthew Johnson

I began working with stone in 1991 when I was invited to apprentice with a stone carver working in nearby Florence. During the course of his training, Matthew learned the intricacies of designing, cutting, and carving stone architectural elements, using a combination of both modern and ancient tools and techniques.

After completing my apprenticeship in 1997, I worked with a high tech firm in Austin where I studied and implemented the cutting edge technologies of CAD design. Always with an eye toward returning to the stone industry, I spent the next few years developing CAD tools that would help me blend the aesthetics and nuanced beauty of carved stone with the precision and speed of the information age.

Today, I am the founder of Bartlett Stone Company and serve as our carver and designer. My experience and attention to detail allow architects, designers, builders, and masons to confidently expand the boundaries of their own stone designs and provide their clients with high quality architectural details that routinely surpass expectation.

In 1999, I got my chance to re-enter the stone carving profession when my old master, Bob Ragan, invited me back to oversee and manage the shop in which I had originally trained. I spent the next four years blending my varied skills in order to provide each client with a uniquely sculpted, architectural stone treasure, while still accommodating the realities of building schedules and budgets.

Episode 4 – Patrick Plunkett

Stone Carvers Guild Podcast

Episode 4 – In which Patrick Plunkett sits down with Bethany, Joel, and Matt to discuss how to not misunderstand the origins of Portland cement.

Following are some photos Patrick shared with us:

Darth Vader at National Cathedral

Template for the 100’s of flowers

Flowers at the National Cathedral

Patrick working on tympanum at National Cathedral

Patrick working on tympanum at National Cathedral

White House Restoration

White House Restoration Detail

National Cathedral Pendants

National Cathedral Finials

Portrait of Patrick carved by Malcolm Harlow

Episode 1 – Joseph Kincannon

Stone Carvers Guild Podcast

Episode 1  – In which Joseph Kincannon sits down with Bethany, Joel, and Matt to discuss how to not work in the gift shop

Following are some photos from stories Joseph shared with us:

Early Days at St John the Divine
      
Archaic workshop in Austin

   

Broken Spoke carving

Later work while in Austin
ACBA classroom workspace
Students at ACBA developing columns and capitals
          

2019 Annual Meeting in Charleston, SC

The year’s annual meeting in Charleston, SC was great fun.  Thanks especially to Simeon Warren, for all the work he put towards planning and making arrangements.  Simeon is still working out the expenses, but after all is said and done it looks like the Guild will be receiving a generous gift of more than $2500 from the Charleston Animal Society.   The work we did on Saturday has begun a series of sculptures for their future pet memorial garden.  Simeon’s students at The American College of the Building Arts will continue the work we started over the next few months.  For those of you who weren’t able to make it this year, I wanted to share with you the highlights of the weekend.

Thursday, October 10th

    

We began the weekend in the beautiful landscaped grounds of the Bon Secour St. Francis Hospital, where we gathered around a Christ Statue, carved by the late Tim Doyle.   The carving is absolutely exquisite.  There we met many of the students from Simeon’s school, as well as members of the Charleston Animal Society.  Sandy Byers, the landscape architect for the St. Francis’ Prayer Garden was also there to welcome us and he spoke briefly about the commission and working with Tim. Walter Arnold also spoke about Tim’s life and work.  We toasted Tim and his work.  I told the ACBA student’s about Tim’s Icosahedron.  (no Dungeons and Dragons references were made)

   

Afterwards, many of us headed over to Vickery’s Bar and Grill for a delicious seafood meal right on the banks of the Charleston Bay.  As you can see, the weekend was off to a great start!

Friday, October 11th

We started Friday with a tour of the ACBA facilities.  It’s an impressive workspace in a historic Charleston building that was originally a trolley car depot that was eventually abandoned until 2014 when the ACBA took ownership of the site and began extensive renovations.  We met faculty member, William Bates, Chair of Architecture and Allied Arts, as well as the President of the school, Colby Broadwater.  The facilities there are spectacular and everyone we met was thoughtful and excited to answer the many questions we had.

We then went to the Magnolia Cemetery, where we were met by Andrew from the local tour company, BullDog Tours.  He gave us a delightful tour and shared with us the history and traditions of the cemetery, and we suggested he add a zero or two to his estimate of what it would cost today to build an ornately carved, spired marble memorial at the center of the cemetery.

   

Lunch was followed with a tour of the Historic Jail (and original home of the ACBA) by BullDog Tours founder (and paranormal skeptic), John Laverne.  It is a ominous place with a dark past and with a rich history of supernatural events.  Walter made Mary Condon jump.

     

Afterwards we all explored the historic district of Charleston before heading back to the ACBA for our guild meeting.  In addition to holding elections, we voted to make Malcolm Harlow an honorary member for life and decided that next year’s meeting would be hosted by Scott Halverson and Mimi Moore in Minneapolis, MN in October 2020.  It’s our 20th anniversary, so pack your mittens — we’re going north!

After the meeting we attended a Beaufort Stew in the college courtyard.  Great food and plenty of beer and wine for a thirsty crowd of students, local patrons, and stone carvers.  Someone eventually suggested we bust out our special banner and take some pictures!

Saturday, October 12th

Saturday, it was time to say thank you to our hosts and the students at ACBA.  Lauren Poynter, with Fieldstone Center in Covington, GA donated 9 blocks of Indiana limestone for the Animal Memorial garden space.  Students from the school paired with members of the Guild and we spent the day cutting and carving to get the sculptures started and far enough along for the ACBA students to complete over the course of the fall semester.  The stone was hard, but so was our resolve, and by the end of the day we had six or seven sculptures well on their way.  Simeon will oversee his students’ work this fall.

It was a great day working together toward a common goal, and it was a reminder of why our Guild is going strong after almost 20 years.  We are a collective of independent, unruly, and sometimes downright ornery individuals, but at the end of the day we all share a love and passion for carving stone.

   

 

 

We’ll see you next year in Minnesota!