Slate of Hand

About the Book

World famous and award-winning artists have selected nonglamorous slate for sculpture, jewelry, land art, or bas relief. What properties of slate made them choose this stone, usually thought of as flat, black, and dull? Our book profiles the artists who use slate and examines their artistic choices. By doing so, we provide the reader with insight into the creative process, as well as slate's artistic potential.

Artists respond to the textures and colors of this metamorphic stone and use slate in a notable array of art forms. Slate of Hand: Stone for Fine Art & Folk Art begins with an overview of folk art created by quarrymen and craftsmen, then focuses on the fine arts. Chapters introduce approximately 50 artists: painters, jewelers, relief carvers, land artists, sculptors, and photographers. Several are internationally acclaimed, such as land artists Richard Long and Andy Goldsworthy. We have researched world-renowned sculptors Barbara Hepworth and Isamu Noguchi and received assistance from their respective museums in St. Ives, Cornwall and New York City.

Slate of Hand is based on interviews with artists from Wales, England, Scotland, the United States, and Canada. Each artist has found slate's inherent qualities well worth the challenges of the medium. Chapters may be read sequentially or selected according to readers' interest in the artists or the art forms.

About the Author

Judy Buswick is a freelance writer and video producer on the arts. Her articles have appeared in Artist's Magazine, Watercolor Magic, Arts Around Boston, and Planet: The Welsh Internationalist, as well as in other magazines and newspapers. Her award-winning photography frequently accompanies the articles. She received Gold Star recognition from the Massachusetts Cultural Council for a video on glass art.

Ted Buswick is an oral historian, archivist, and writer for an international management consulting firm. Formerly, he was senior acquisitions editor for a leading publisher. He has published articles about arts-based learning in business and has coedited a special issue of the Journal of Business Strategy on that topic.