Fred X. Brownstein
Delwood Angel detail
marble
Tim Lehmann
National Arts Club pediment
Scottish sandstone
2026 Session 1
May 23-29, 2026 (Saturday to Friday)
Beginning/Intermediate/Advanced
Staff Instructors Tim Lehmann and Petro Hul
with Guest Instructor Fred X. Brownstein
Session 1 is open to all levels and includes an orientation session for new students and demonstrations of tools and techniques.
One cubic foot of limestone for one’s project is included, and tools are available to rent or purchase. Lunch is not included.
Session 1 students may stay for up to five additional days (additional $75 per day, charged separately) to continue working on their projects.
Register Now Session 1 TUITION $1250 + tax
2026 Session 2
August 22-28, 2026 (Saturday to Friday)
Beginning/Intermediate/Advanced
Staff Instructors Tim Lehmann and Petro Hul
Session 2 is open to all levels and includes an orientation session for new students and demonstrations of tools and techniques.
One cubic foot of limestone for one’s project is included, and tools are available to rent or purchase. Lunch is not included.
Session 2 students may stay for up to five additional days (additional $75 per day, charged separately) to continue working on their projects.
Register Now Session 2 TUITION $1250 + tax
Each session provides dedicated time to concentrate on one’s project while working alongside fellow stone carvers in a supportive environment. Quality stone carving tools from around the world are available for purchase on site. We also stock a variety of carving stone, including marble, limestone, etc.
Please contact Tim Lehmann if you have questions: 505.579.9179
Read more about Tim Lehmann (scroll down),
workshop founder and director, Mark Saxe,
and lead staff member Petro Hul.
WORKSHOPS OVERVIEW
Director and Founder Mark Saxe passed away on August 14, 2025. It was his wish that the classes continue to build on the foundation already laid.
To make a tax deductible donation to The Rio Grande Rift Institute 501(c)3 toward the continuing legacy of Sax Stone Carving Workshops, to set up a scholarship fund, or to include us in your estate planning, please contact Betsy Williams 575.770.4945 or email riftgallery@yahoo.com. Donate online HERE.
“From our auspicious beginning in 2001, three days after 9/11, with White House carver Patrick Plunkett as our first guest instructor, Sax Stone Carving Workshops have evolved into an institution widely recognized for the level of instruction and the quality of our teachers. We have welcomed such accomplished instructors as Alexandra Morosco, Frank Haufe, Fred Brownstein, Gary Haven Smith, Joseph Kincannon, Karin Sprague, Kazutaka Uchida, Kelly Jamison, Matt Auvinen, Nicholas Fairplay and Patrick Plunkett. Among them are American, English, German, and Japanese instructors, each of whom has left his or her own mark, and whose knowledge, skills and aesthetic have become part of the cumulative workshop experience.
Our workshops are small compared to most stone sculpture symposia, and the focus is on education, with a particular emphasis on carving with hand tools. Our student to staff ratio is typically 5 to 1 or better. Throughout the day, staff instructors circulate to make suggestions, help solve a tactical problem, point out a book in our library, offer an approach, or share an idea. Our ideal student is one who comes to learn, first and foremost.
Every student gets his or her own outdoor banker (carving table), a shaded tent area, electricity, and air. A generous piece of limestone is provided as part of the tuition, but a large variety of other stones are also available for sale. Everyone is encouraged to have a basic set of carving tools. The workshop has a wide selection of the best carving tools from England, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US, for sale. For beginners, it is a good idea to wait to buy tools until you have some guidance from a professional. It is easy to waste money on inappropriate tools. In the class, you will have time to try before you buy.
Every morning, we have individually wrapped snacks and hot coffee and tea for you to fill up your own thermos. We have a small meeting in which we outline the day’s events and address any questions students may have. The rest of the day consists of demonstrations, carving time, and a shared lunch break, followed by more carving with an optional film or power point presentation.
Every year we learn something new and a better way of doing things. We have a track record of taking feedback and incorporating the best suggestions. The classes are participatory, meaning that everyone has the chance to shape not only his or her experience but also the experiences of those who follow.
We are of the philosophy that there is more than one way to do things, but we do believe there is a right way to learn. Sometimes the roundabout approach is better than the straight away. After all, the most lasting lessons are those that are learned by making mistakes, by experimenting, and by pushing the envelope.
Our students have ranged in age from 14 to 94, and dedicated returning students account for over 50% of our attendance. Some students have attended classes from the very beginning, and many students have taken five, ten, twenty, or more classes with us.
We want our students to make what they came to make and what they want to see, be it a bird, a portrait, a carved word, an angel, an abstract shape, a bowl, or the ripples on an ocean shore.”
–Mark Saxe
Applicants are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis upon receipt of tuition.
Please inquire about financial assistance and work scholarships for students under 30 years of age. We award a limited number of full scholarships.
If a pre-registered applicant has a change of plans, a refund, subject to a $50 cancellation fee, will be made if the applicant's position can be filled from the waiting list. In order to qualify for a refund, applicant must provide notification of cancellation at least days fourteen days prior to the workshop start date. In the event of the cancellation of the workshop due to unforeseen circumstances, all payments will be refunded in full. We assume no responsibility for travel costs.
Tim Lehmann
has been carving stone professionally for fourteen years. From traditional architectural carving in limestone to fine figurative sculpture in marble to large scale granite installations, Tim has worked on a wide scope of projects and with a great many types of stone. With this experience has come a familiarity and expertise in carving technique and tool knowledge, with specialties in detail marble chiseling, texturing and layering, and using fluid chisel movements for subjects such as hair, drapery, smoke, and water. His current personal interests include botanical carving, ephemeral forms, and combining fine detailed carvings with found field stone.
Tim’s passion for carving includes a love for teaching and sharing knowledge. He has worked with many students and professional artists over the years, bringing their visions to life in stone. Tim joined the Southwest Stoneworks family in June of 2025, where he manages the stoneyard and tool store, and is a permanent staff instructor for our annual Sax Stonecarving Workshops. You can find him most days out back, chipping away and making dust.
Rhode Island State House bracket - Georgia marble, photo courtesy Tim Lehmann
Vanderbilt Hummer - Indiana limestone, photo courtesy Tim Lehmann
Marine Garland - Leuders limestone, photo courtesy Tim Lehmann
Whipping Post Stump with Rose and Ivy - Carrara marble, photo courtesy Tim Lehmann
A Quarter Century with Stone
by Founder and Director Mark Saxe (1946-2025)
It came to me suddenly one day—the realization that this year marks a quarter century of our stone carving workshops. My wife, Betsy, and I began offering these sessions in 2001, without much thought for a second year, let alone a twenty-fifth. But the seasons passed, and whether we had envisioned it or not, the workshops continued. Each year, we worked hard to make them a little better.
Looking back, I’m reminded of a classical Chinese scroll—its long, unfolding landscape filled with figures from every walk of life, encountering one another along a riverbank. Our workshops have been that river. Thousands of people have passed through over the years—men and women, young and old, beginners and masters—all drawn by the desire to shape something lasting from a piece of stone.
Whether their work is abstract or figurative, organic or geometric, large or small, rough or polished—it always comes back to the stone.
Our workshops emphasize the fundamentals: geology, tool care and use, safety, and the thoughtful use of power tools for cutting, drilling, splitting, and polishing. But every topic is framed within a deeper inquiry: What makes a good sculpture? Carving stone without care or intention would be, we believe, presumptuous—perhaps even disrespectful to the natural world.
We work mostly with hammer and chisel, grounding our teaching in centuries-old traditions from France, England, Germany, and Japan. It’s slow, patient work that requires persistence and grit. But we’re not in a hurry. (Look at what hurry has given us: fast food over home cooking, plastic take-out over handmade pots, algorithms over genuine human interaction.) We teach these time-honored methods not as a novelty, but as a meaningful way to connect with the material—and, through it, with something larger.
Our instructors have decades of experience. All have devoted their lives to stone - this amazing, obdurate, beautiful material.
The classes are small, never more than 15 students, with a typical 5:1 student-to-teacher ratio. Some students even joke that they get too much attention.
Workshops take place on the grounds of my business, Southwest Stoneworks, which has been in operation for 50 years. Students work alongside the rhythms of a real-world stone carving shop—not a synthetic or temporary stage set. Each participant gets their own workstation with a banker (work table) under a shade tent, along with power, air, and water. A fresh, healthy lunch is served buffet-style, offering a chance to rest, recharge, and connect with fellow carvers.
Over time, many students have returned again and again, refining not only their skills but also their aesthetic—and forging lasting friendships along the way. Still, new students continue to step into the river.
It’s said that there is no one who is not better off for having spent time in the presence of stone. With that as our guiding belief, we keep chipping away. Working with stone is never time wasted.
We believe in passing these traditions forward. If you're drawn to the stone, we invite you to join us.
MORE INFORMATION
Click here to read Mark's article about stonecarving in the July 2014 issue of Slippery Rock Gazette.