Storyteller: A Vision in Ancient Stone

Stoyteller, Carved Basalt by Tom Small – Photo by Peggy Sue McRae

If the new sculpture in the picnic area in front of San Juan Bakery and San Juan Island Food Co-Op looks a little other-worldly it is with good reason. Local artist, stone sculptor Tom Small, carved the piece Storyteller out columnar basalt from the Columbia basin in Eastern Washington.  The stone, formed out of lava into a natural column during the cooling process, is millions of years old.

The artist, with a keen interest in the mysterious quality of large stone works left by ancient cultures, enjoyed working on this piece using his cutting tools to draw patterns into the surface of the stone. Cutting into the “skin” of the basalt reveals rich earthy colors from black to rust red.

Storyteller Carved Basalt by Tom Small – Photo by Peggy Sue McRae

Small, who studied sculpture and Northwest Coast Native art at the University of Washington, fell in love with stone while living in the Olympic Mountains and in 1989 created his home and Studio on San Juan Island.  Islanders have been enjoying Tom’s work in public places around the Island for years, he also creates private commissioned works, and is represented by Waterworks Gallery in Friday Harbor.

Next time your to-do list takes you to the Bakery or the Co-Op, pause for a moment to behold this gleaming pillar. It is for sale, but until it is purchased it is ours to enjoy.  Storyteller, “it’s a playful piece, a portal to another world” said Small. When I asked him if it was a portal into the past he answered, “or to the future”.

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