My connection to the stoneyard began in the late 1980’s when John Barton, AIA, the son-in-law of the Dean of the Cathedral, James Parks Morton, invited me to see the stone working program. I was offered a place to stay in the Bishop’s guest quarters and visited the stone shed attached to the cathedral several times.
John introduced me to the cutters and carvers. I remember no names, only the intensity and dedication that showed in the faces. It was likely that I met Jose Tapia, Tim Smith and Eddie P. They were working…cutting and carving some of the thousands of stones necessary to complete the Cathedral’s towers. I wished I was one of them, but it was not to be, living in New Mexico with a stone masonry business that needed me and I needed it. However, my connection to the stoneyard has continued since that tour.
I would have traded places with any one of them.
The light filtering down from the skylights, the fine dust of limestone in the air and the tap, tap, tap, of hammer on chisel was mesmerizing. The vibe was intoxicating, especially to me who had already spent the last 13 years working with stone. I would have traded places with any of those carvers but I had a home and business to take care of. Upon leaving the Cathedral I had a feeling that we would meet again in the future. That experience had a profound affect on me and because of it I met many people who worked on the cathedral, most notably Joseph Kincannon, Nick FairPlay, and John Barton. All of them have added to my life and work.
And Now…
So, here it is 2020, the year of the coronaviris pandemic. Roger Murphy, friend and stone carving enthusiast, and I decided that the stone work of the Cathedral St. John the Divine needed to be be written about. The stonework at the Cathedral had for the most part been neglected for a number of reasons. One of those reasons may have been the attention given to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. It was being built and carved around the same time and received very much attention. Thus the divinestone.org blog was created.
My stoneyard connection was again activated when I was contacted by a friend of mine who was moving from New Mexico and was clearing out her collection of books. She asked me if I would be interested in claiming a few. It was in her bookcase that I found John Barton’s masters thesis, “The Divine Spirit of Architecture”. Written at Yale University, it covers 12 sacred structures and of course St. John the Divine was one of them. I let John know of my discovery and asked if it was ok to reprint some of it.
The hands of St. John the Divine reach far and wide. More about those hands in an upcoming post.
Mark Saxe’s website is www.saxstonecarving.com