Julian Isaacson works on a sculpture at his Stone Revival Studio and Galley, on Route 100 between Pittsfield and Stockbridge, Vt. (Herald / Tim Calabro)

Stop by sculptor Julian Isaacson’s Stone Revival studio and gallery, and you will see an artist immersed in his own private creative process, but one who is also reaching out to share his creativity with others.

Isaacson says his location, on the Route 100 flats near the Stockbridge/Pittsfield line, is ideal.

“The whole idea is so that people can stop in and see an artist at work,” he notes. “The observer is also a learner and you never can tell what they’ll walk away with. Art is a form of expression and when you use that term, it implies communication. Today artists have to be able to have a business sense, too, and be able to stop and explain themselves.”

Isaacson said the name for his studio came about because “I decided that what I was trying to do was revive a lost art. At the turn of the last century, almost every village had a stonecutter who created headstones and statuary.”

Stone Revival offers interior and exterior hand-carved imperial tiles, fine art, and architectural enhancements. As a stone artist, he specializes in relief work, but also does full-figure stone sculpture, and works in wood.

“I find it relaxing,” Isaacson says. “It’s the exact same process, working in wood or stone.”

He often works on projects in both media at the same time, doing some work on one, and then switching to the other. He puts the “cartoon” (a drawing of what he plans to carve) directly on the surface and works from there.

“When I’m doing a study, I spend a lot of time around what I want to carve,” he says. “I want to see how things naturally react with each other.”

The wood for Isaacson’s work comes from a number of different sources and right now, he has several pieces from Liberty Hill in his studio. His favorites are black walnut and cherry. He’s currently working on creating a torso piece called “Fallen Angel” from the crotch of a black walnut tree given to him by a friend who was an arborist.

It took Isaacson about two years to come up with the cold tile process he uses to make his hand-carved relief tiles.

“The tiles are an offshoot of what I normally do,” he explained.

He sculpts the original in stone, then makes a mold out of a state-of-the-art rubber material used in movie special effects. The tiles that are cast from the mold are made from a mixture of concrete and plaster, with a hardening agent added. He uses different formulas, depending upon whether the tiles, which are colored all the way through, are intended for interior or exterior use. Put outside, they pick up their own patina.

Isaacson’s parents, Eileen and Sidney, were both artists. He grew up in Hancock and graduated from Rochester High School in 1973, then from UVM with a business and communications degree. In his 20s, he decided to follow his dream and become a sculptor.

“I’ve been carving for over 35 years,” he noted. “My parents taught me to learn from my mistakes by keeping old pieces. I would have been a painter, but I’m colorblind and couldn’t understand the palette. Dad showed me relief work and I started doing that at 15.”

One of six siblings, he’s the only sculptor. Among the others, there are three musicians, an actor, and a doctor.

Although he lived on the west coast for about 25 years (the last 19 in Medford, Oregon), Isaacson decided to move back home to Vermont last year. He lives in a small apartment over his studio right now, and his wife, Lee Ann, a real estate and business consultant, will join him soon.

They are the parents of four grown children—Justin, a fighter pilot with the National Guard; Jennifer, now in dental school; Nicholas, a graduate of Paul Smith’s College, who is a professional chef; and Julian, a student at the University of Oregon, who plans a career as a paramedic.

“Being a Vermonter, I love being outside,” Isaacson noted. “I did a lot of trapping as a kid.” A hunter, he uses several deer antlers as closing and burnishing tools when he sculpts.

Isaacson does the bulk of his work on commission and also puts his pieces in galleries other than his own. The largest stone piece he’s ever done weighed 3,000 lbs. and was a two-figure memorial made out of imperial marble from Barre, which depicted a man and his daughter sitting beside the ocean.

It takes a lot of physical strength to be a sculptor, and one corner of Isaacson’s studio features a weight bench, where he works out regularly to keep his shoulders and arms in shape so he can do his work.

“Art is a self-motivating process—no one makes you do this,” Isaacson said. “I’m not ego-driven at all—I get totally excited about what I do. I’m 54 now and I’m really excited about the next decade.”

Isaacson works regular hours in his studio and the gallery at Stone Revival is open to the public most days from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. To learn more, go to his website at www.stonerevival.com.

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Sculptor M. Julian Isaacson has taken a spiritual and philosophical approach to his piece “The Crossroads.” ( Mail Tribune )

By JENNIFER STRANGE
for the Mail Tribune
May 27, 2007

Smooth, white, rounded, gently shadowed and speaking of antiquity: M. Julian Isaacson’s newly finished marble sculpture, “The Crossroads,” shares many of the physical characteristics with one of Mother Nature’s perfect pearls. The connection isn’t lost on this 51-year-old sculptor, who likens the inspiration for his piece, now mounted and showing through June at Ashland’s Illahe Design Studio and Gallery, to a pearl’s growth.

“Like a grain of sand lodges in an oyster, irritating its flesh and growing into something meaningful, this sculpture came from a childhood full of difficulty and covert anti-Semitism,” says the artist, who grew up in a small, rural Vermont town.

SCULPTOR’S WORK ON DISPLAY

“The Crossroads” and other sculptures and functional art by M. Julian Isaacson will be on display at Illahe Design Studio and Gallery through June.

An opening Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. will feature an oral presentation and demonstration by the sculptor as well as entertainment and refreshments. Illahe is located at 500 A St., Suite 3, Ashland; call 488-5072

To see more of Isaacson’s decorative and architectural work, visit his Web site at www.stonerevival.com.

“The Crossroads,” a 4-by-4-foot carving in Carrera marble, depicts Isaacson’s interpretation of the crucifixion of Christ, with the Archangel Michael embracing him, a dove’s wing touching his shoulder and a Star of David on the top of the cross. In Isaacson’s mind, these two major religions are really quite connected.

“A good Jewish boy artist doesn’t really do Christian art; and a Christian artist doesn’t really ever use the Star of David,” says Isaacson. “But it was necessary and legitimate for me to step forward; I had to make the move to combine these symbols to show that we’re at a crossroads of cultures.”

This forward-thinking philosophy didn’t come just from being bullied on the playground.

A fearless urge to express himself artistically probably came from his parents. Isaacson’s father, an artist born to Russian Jews who had successfully escaped violent Russian pogroms to start a new life in America, sustained disabling injuries while fighting the Nazis during World War II. He went on to have seven children, all raised to take pride in their heritage. Isaacson’s mother, an Osage Sioux and painter, introduced her son to a nature-based form of spirituality.

Neither background seemed to fit into the setting where Isaacson lived out his adolescence. “It was a very different time when teachers would make jokes about our poverty and how it didn’t seem ‘Jewish’ that we were poor,” says Isaacson of the 150-student country school.

After his family succeeded in bringing the discrimination to the attention of officials, the prejudice just went underground. Nobody spoke to the Isaacson kids, nobody invited them to participate in sports or socializing. “This left a lasting impression on me, like a scar,” he says.

Fast forward to what Isaacson calls “a very successful life with a Christian wife” (Lee Ann) in the Rogue Valley, where Isaacson does custom stone sculptures for home decor and commissioned works. It was here, years ago, that the sculptor had a seminal experience during a service at Lee Ann’s church.

“I was listening to the pastor speak about how Judaism is the root of Christianity,” he remembers. “And the irony of my father fighting next to Christians against the Nazis was not lost on me and I started to see that people can move forward and start to find what they have in common.”

What humans have in common, believes Isaacson, is “marching together, away from the hatred that isn’t natural.”

“People have to pick hatred up and carry it; it’s a disease of sorts that’s learned or passed down,” he says. This realization planted the seed — the grain of sand — that became “The Crossroads.”

Body language and spiritual iconography speak volumes in the sculpture, with the Star of David symbolizing the bridge Isaacson feels is gradually being built between Judaism and Christianity.

A dove lights next to the star, its wing touching Christ, forming a spiritual aspect that Isaacson says signifies mankind and speaks to innocence and purity of life and death.

Human emotions are expressed in the faces of the Christ and Archangel Michael. Christ has just died, his hands nailed to the arms of the cross, fingers curled, face downcast and framed by a crown of thorns. A final tear is forever cast on his cheek. The archangel seems to be sending Christ’s spirit heavenward via rays of divine light that travel through his own upturned and caring gaze.

Archangel Michael is the representative of God, communicating the sorrow and redemption of Christ’s death.

“Even when Christ was being taunted by people saying any true god would remove him from the cross, Michael’s presence makes the statement that Christ was never alone,” says Isaacson. “It’s the Osage Sioux idea that living and dying are one in the same; that we have nothing to do with the birth or death process, that both are simply taken and given and part of the cycle.”

Speaking to the American Indian belief that human life is basically organic and fleeting - a membrane that exists among the stable forces of earth, sky, life and death — “The Crossroads” is an attempt to capture a passing moment in an eternal medium.

“A moment is a precious thing that moves through time and can never be repeated,” says the sculptor. “Carving that moment of thought in history when we’re finding the common bonds in humanity enables me to make the statement on a permanent level.”

Calling the piece “truly extraordinary” and “a big deal,” Sue Springer, ceramic artist and owner of Illahe gallery, hopes viewers will recognize both the meaning and artistic integrity of “The Crossroads.”

“He’s reviving the ancient art of carving using a chisel and a hammer — it’s a return to the artist as a real craftsman,” Springer says. “The piece is very ancient and very traditional but also shows what can be done.”

Click here for more information, images, and pricing.

Sleeping Forest Muse = $500
Height = 12 ”
Width = 18 ”
Depth = 4 ”
Weight = 12 lbs

Prices do not include shipping and handling.

Woman Within = $5,000
Height = 60 ”
Width = 24 ”
Depth = 4 ”
Weight = 95 lbs

Reproduction - Unframed = $500
Height = 36 ”
Width = 18 ”
Depth = 1.25
Weight = X lbs

Prices do not include shipping and handling.

Click here to read the news article on “The Crossroads”.

The Crossroads - Signature Piece = $85,000
Height = 60 ”
Width = 56.5 ”
Depth = 1.25 ”
Weight = 420 lbs

Reproduction - Framed = $12,500
Height =
Width =
Depth =
Weight =

Prices do not include shipping and handling.

Story behind the Crossroads:

As a young boy my family moved to a small town in Central Vermont, we were the first Jewish family in that area. The time and the size of the town were reflected the anti-Semitic attitude that resulted in fights and verbal persecution throughout my high school years. That experience planted a grain of sand in my soul; much like an oyster feels the discomfort of a grain of sand in his shell.

I felt the pain and sting of prejudice and anti-Semitism which taught me not to personally practice that in my life. In processing this experience through the years, combined with watching the state of current events, “the Crossroads” is “the pearl that is being created as a result.

My belief is that Christianity is based in Judaic foundations. Jesus was a Rabbi, yet Christians have embraced his message as their own. The Jewish and Christian beliefs are merging in a way never seen before; they used to be individually defined. This point in history reflects a turning point.

The holocaust changed everything for the practicing Jew. Over 6 million Jews were lost in concentration camps; persecuted fore their bloodline not their beliefs. Judaism became a culture as opposed to a religion. It resulted in the state of Israel, with a religious group that left Jerusalem as immigrants returning to their homeland as a warring army.

In retrospect, both Christians and Jews have begun rethinking their beliefs and practices. The Torah speaks to the future and Christianity speaks to the future; neither can afford to be stagnant. Both are looking for what is next in the growth of their religions, and despite the resistance to it, the two are slowly morphing together with common believers. As a Jewish descendant with a strong belief in God, I am personally watching this process and assessing the impact on the world around me.

“The Crossroads” is a two-dimensional bas relief, 4ft by 4ft, hand carved in Carrera Marble.

Press Release - The Crossroads:

M. Julian Isaacson is a classically trained sculptor of Osage Indian and Jewish descent. He began studying his father’s sculptural work at a very young age, and initially worked solely in hardwood sculpture using only hand tools. After relocating to the West Coast from Vermont in 1986, Isaacson expanded his sculptural repertoire to include marble.

Sculptor Julian will unveil a signature piece on First Friday, June 1, 2007 at Illahe Design Studio & Gallery, 500 A Street, Suite 3 in Ashland. “The Crossroads” is a remarkable two-dimensional bas-relief, 4ft by 4ft by 1 ¼’ in depth, hand carved with hammer and chisel in Carrera Marble. The artist applies a form of direct carving, drawing the “cartoon” directly on the stone, and begins the “cutting in” of the piece once he feels the drawing is ready.

The artist tells the story that as a young boy his family moved to a small town in Central Vermont; they were the first Jewish family in that area. The times and the size of the town were reflected in an anti-Semitic attitude that resulted in verbal and physical persecution throughout his high school years that left a lasting impression on him.

“That experience planted a grain of sand in my soul; much like an oyster feels the discomfort of a grain of sand in his shell.”

“I felt the pain and sting of prejudice and anti-Semitism which taught me not to personally practice that in my life. In processing this experience through the years, combined with watching the state of current events, “The Crossroads” is “the pearl that is being created as a result.”

“My belief is that Christianity is based in Judaic foundations. Jesus was a Rabbi, yet Christians have embraced his message as their own. The Jewish and Christian beliefs are merging in a way never seen before; they used to be individually defined. This point in history reflects a turning point.”

“The holocaust changed everything for the practicing Jew. Over 6 million Jews were lost in concentration camps; persecuted for their bloodline not their beliefs. Judaism became a culture as opposed to a religion. It resulted in the state of Israel, with a religious group that left Jerusalem as immigrants returning to their homeland as a warring army.”

“In retrospect, both Christians and Jews have begun rethinking their beliefs and practices. The Torah speaks to the future and Christianity speaks to the future; neither can afford to be stagnant. Both are looking for what is next in the growth of their religions, and despite the resistance to it, the two are slowly morphing together with common beliefs. As a Jewish descendant with a strong belief in God, I am personally watching this process and assessing the impact on the world around me.”

Venture out on First Friday, June 1, 2007 in Ashland, and stop by Illahe Design Studio and Gallery for a special evening and enjoy a brief personal introduction of the piece by the artist at 6:00 p.m.

Hidden Woman = $5,000
Height = 36 ”
Width = 15.5 ”
Depth = 1.25 ”
Weight = 50 lbs

Reproduction - Unframed = $500
Height = 36 ”
Width = 15.5 ”
Depth = .75 ”
Weight = 20 lbs

Prices do not include shipping and handling.

The Guardian = $15,000 (SOLD)
Height = 60 ”
Width = 24 ”
Depth = 1.25 ”
Weight = 345 lbs

Reproduction - Unframed = $1,200
Height = 60 ”
Width = 24 ”
Depth = .75 ”
Weight = 50 lbs

Prices do not include shipping and handling

Illahe Tileworks - Designs and Produces a Wide Variety of Decorative Handcrafted Tile

Northwest Stone Wise - Mastering the Art of Stone Engraving

Molly McBeth Photography - High School Portraits, Fashion, Galleries and Commercial

Indian Natural Stones - Leading Manufacturer and Exporter of Natural Stones

The Wood Gallery - Vast selection of artworks from over 450 artists, many of whom reside in the Pacific Northwest

Julian visited various Vermont marble quarries along the East Coast to hand pick the right piece of marble and then had the marble shipped to his studio in Oregon. To familiarize himself with the look of the family member being represented in the life size portrait in the round, Julian did a pen and ink drawing utilizing an eagle feather as the pen, which will be framed and forwarded to the client.

Vermont marble sculptures “In the Round” take several months to complete due to the complexity of working from all sides and creating a likeness from photographs. The Vermont marble memorial piece will represent a man sitting with his child looking out over the sea.

The master sculptor, Julian Isaacson, personalizes each process to each individual client to achieve the maximum result. This experience has been challenging and rewarding for all of the parties involved. The Vermont marble memorial piece will be moved to its final resting place upon completion.

Vermont Marble Memorial = $XXX
Height = X ‘ X ”
Width = X ‘ X ”
Depth = X ‘ X ”
Weight = X lbs