For Kat Warwick, stone carving begins with patience and listening, fostering trust and respect with her audience. The Dallas-based sculptor works in one of the most ancient and physically demanding art forms. Stone is heavy. Tools are sharp. Dust and stone chips fill the air. Every strike matters. Yet within that roughness, Warwick finds something unexpectedly intimate: a conversation between artist and material.
“It’s one of the roughest art forms you can have,” Warwick says. “Everything is heavy, everything can hurt you.”
Every day, Warwick puts on her safety gear, picks up her hammer and chisel and makes her art. What started as a hobby in her backyard in 2018 grew into a professional studio on the other side of town. During the COVID-19 years, it moved to her front yard, where carving stone became a neighborhood ritual that inspired a sense of community and shared purpose.
The daily routine became affectionately known as Art Yard Shenanigans, and neighbors, both adult and child, learned the practical skills of sculpting stone, as well as real-world skills in math, physics, and project management.
Teaching has always been a part of Warwick’s nature. Today she teaches stone carving at the Creative Arts Center of Dallas. Sharing her knowledge has long been an instinctive act that gains admiration and appreciation from her audience. She says, “It seems a sin to learn a thing and then not share that knowledge with others”
Her path to sculpture was not a straight line. Warwick was artistically inclined from childhood, earning her BFA with a focus in advertising. The field of advertising never felt like home, so she worked in sales, and project management, and eventually for an architectural stone company, a chapter that now feels almost prophetic. Stone was waiting.
In 2018, her instructor asked her to take over his stone sculpting class. So in 2019, at age 58, Warwick stepped into the role. Kat shares “You never know all you need to know to teach an art form; especially in an art form that demands caution and respect. You learn what you can, do your best, then let your student’s needs guide your continued education.”
The Art Yard Shenanigans activities became a turning point. leading to a commission honoring Virginia Savage McAlester, the influential Dallas historic architecture preservationist.
From there, Warwick began building a life through sculpting, teaching, creating commissions, event sculpting, winning awards, and selling her work at festivals.
Her creative process often moves in one of two ways. Sometimes there a plan. Other times she waits for the stone to speak. The second way has led to some of there most meaningful work.
“There is a partnership between an artist and the stone if you’’ just slow down and listen” she says. That belief shaped Unencumbered, a green marble sculpture that became deeply personal. A simple abstract, precariously balanced on its edges said, “Stop carving. Leave my scars.” teaching Warwick, and the world, to embrace the scars the world has given; for those life lessons are where a person’s strength and beauty truly live. On another occasion, a block of beautiful but challenging red travertine refused Warwick’s “plan”. It refused to be carved into an octopus. Then, they refused a heart design. It sat for 4 years before allowing itself to be carved and become “The Song of I”. It’s an ancient stone carrying an ancient collective voice. It became a female torso, complemented by the stone’s beautiful, natural scars. On its back are inscribed words used to describe womanhood’s positive traits of bravery, strength, and the ability to love unconditionally.
This year, Kat is honored to be working on an original artwork commissioned by the City of Fort Worth, Texas. To honor the first responders of Fire Station #37, she is creating a 9 foot tall, 6 ton, black marble ram. Kat also participates in a few select art festivals throughout the year. You can meet Kat and see her work at Sculpture in the Park, the USA’s largest outdoor, sculpture-only, art festival. Warwick looks forward to meeting you there in August!
Warwick’s work is rooted in both discipline and surrender. She carves stone, but she is also telling our stories and carving connections; between artist and material, teacher and student, neighborhood and art, scars and strength. In every strike of the chisel, Kat Warwick reminds us that even the hardest things can reveal something tender, if we are patient enough to listen.
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