Devin Devine, stone sculptor based out of Pennsylvania, projects across the USA
to commission art contact devin@devineescapes.com

New Garden Sphere–and Frequently Asked Questions!

Silver Spring Maryland

Sculpture completed September 26th of 2017

Newly finished Garden Sculpture

So one thing about building a garden sculpture in public like this is that I got to spend 20 days in a row, answering (for the most part) the same 20 questions. That makes it easier for me to write up a FAQ then, since I have it pretty well memorized exactly what people usually want to know. Let’s start out with a FAQ then.

Related content: my newest sphere (December 2022)

Stacked Stone Garden Sphere Frequently Asked Questions

…And answers!

1. How long does it take to build a garden sculpture like this? Well, I’d say about a month. 3 to 5 weeks, depending.
2. Is the sphere dry stacked or is there cement? I’ve built spheres like this dry stacked before. In order to protect this sphere from vandalism, a small amount of well hidden mortar and/or glue has been employed.
3. Is it hollow? Nope! Solid stone, all the way through.
4. Where did you learn? Did you go to school or come from a family of masons or what? Self taught. I worked for ten years in various phases of construction and landscaping and have been involved with arts and creative endeavor my whole life. In 2007 I started my own business, doing natural stone hardscapes mostly and other masonry projects as well as garden sculpture.

5. Is this your design? Yes.

6. What type of stone is this? Pennsylvania bluestone. The sphere is made from the same material as you’ll see used in flagstone patios and walkways. Pennsylvania Bluestone was formed at the bottom of subterranean lakes around 360 million years ago during what is called the Devonian Period, quarried mostly in North Eastern Pennsylvania along the Pennsylvania and New York border. It is a sandstone containing feldspar and small amounts of mica. It is called bluestone but comes in a variety of colors, depending on mineral content.
7. Where do you get the stone from? Various quarries and stone suppliers. Depends on what I need, where I am and what is available. A lot of the stone that gets used in my sculptures are leftover pieces, remaining from patios and stone walls that I build.
8. What does this garden sculpture symbolize, or what does it represent, or what does it mean to you? I call this type of work Visionary Eco-Art. It means a lot, to me, and I’ve written and spoken on this subject before….The subject matter is universal enough, that hopefully, I shouldn’t need to say anything. This is Dynamic Order which is also called Organized Chaos, or even simply Nature. This is a ball of swirling stone. Not perfectly spherical, but still beautiful. The same could be said for our planet Earth. I could go on. Perhaps another time.
9. Does it have a name? She’s young yet. A few names are being bandied about, but nothing settled, just yet. Song of Joy, perhaps. My sweet Planetoid. Ask me again in a few months. UPDATE we’re still just calling her “the fourth”. (series of 11 planned, 6 completed so far)

10. Do you cut the stones, or carve them, or do you use them as you found them?

    I cut my stones just by staring at them. I know it sounds impossible–but I saw it with my own eyes.

11. Where are you from? Behind me. Where are you going? In front of me. (Philadelphia, originally)
12. How many stones is it made of? Sure you guys–I totally counted! Literally, I counted each stone!
13. Do you always build these garden spheres and similar sculptures on site, or can they be shipped? Larger pieces are usually built on site, although I’ve delivered more than one sphere or sculpture of this size.
14. That’s amazing! How do you do that? Magic.
15. Have you heard of Andy Goldsworthy? Nope!
16. Have you heard of that artist who makes similar things like this out of stone. ….And he does things with leaves and bits of ice. …? Yes, his name is Andy Goldsworthy. I hear his name every day. Respect his work, but he was never an influence on what I do.
17. What holds it together? The very same forces which bind our entire universe together. Gravity, Friction, Willpower and Love. Yes, a small bit of adhesive has been employed, to prevent curious visitors from taking the sculpture apart–but the sculpture does not rely on glue or cement–without them, it would hold it’s shape just fine, unless someone actually tried to dismantle it.
18. How many of these have you built? This is my 4th full-size sphere. I seem to build about 1 per year. The years when I don’t build a sphere, I end up building a series of vases, or something.

One of the awesome things about working at Brookside Gardens is the view. Here’s my view everyday, while working at Brookside Gardens:

There are a couple of cool kinetic sculptures, made of copper, situated within the fountains, just near my sphere sculpture.

And walking around Brookside Gardens, there’s beauty everywhere. Acres and acres of it.

So much beauty.

More works in stone by Devin Devine:

• dry stone sculpture spheres, vases, eggs, tentacles
• benches and stone birdbaths handmade from Pocono boulders
• Phone consultations/DIY flagstone help
• outdoor living spaces
• stone paths
• DRY STONE walls

Bottom right corner is the design I ended up going with. Bottom left/middle is the design that I used, more or less, for the back side of the garden sculpture.

Getting started:

Coco and Doug of time points photography were there to document the construction of the Garden Sculpture. They did an awesome job, were pleasant and easy to work with. Thanks Coco! Thanks Doug!

They even made an awesome slide show. Click here to see the entire build process, from excavation to completion!

Doug and Coco are members of the Friends of Brookside Gardens. FOBG is a non-profit organization which exists to fund-raise and support Brookside Gardens. The present artwork, the sphere, is a 20 year anniversary present from FOBG, celebrating 20 years of the organizations existence.

Thank you Friends of Brookside Gardens!

And thank you to all visitors

I built this one in the middle of a park which sometimes gets a bit busy.

Many critters came to witness the birth of the garden sculpture

And a froggy came to visit too, just after the sculpture was completed.

I believe this is the same Daddy Long-legger who hung out with me for a couple days. He was riding the whirly-jig. Wait a minute, what did I just say? The whirly jig is part of the system that I use to maintain symmetry. A swiveling wooden form. It is AKA the”tiddly winks”. Anyway, the spider was just chillin’ on that form all day, and then was there again the next day. A day or two later when the sculpture was finished and we had just hosed it off, there was a daddy long-legger, getting in a photo-op. Possibly the same one, who knows?

In other insect news, a couple times, when the sphere was built up more than half-way, I heard a cricket chirping, from inside the sphere. That was cool, in the morning, to hear my sphere chirping at me like that.

I climb everything I build, of course.

Well this article is already getting a bit long. I’ll write another post another day then, about the foundation, and why I use basalt rebar, rather than the common steel reinforcement.

And this present article will be updated with additional photos, after the gardening around the sphere is done, and after we have some good photos to share.

Thanks for looking!