I gave out a little advice to a young man this morning on becoming a stone mason. I thought I’d share that advice with everyone… (This photo is of the foundation my firm built for a forty foot silo to set upon)
Stone masonry is tough on the back, so work carefully or you will have to give up this career far too soon.
In order to make a good living at it you will need to either get really good… or get big.
Either way you will need to not only learn the craft, but become a businessman, and a marketer.
Getting big often creates money, but often robs one of the joy in the work. So if you seek satisfaction… go for being the best.
Study the work of old, spend years copying the best of yesterday. Get a reputation in doing this.
After a decade or so, you can slowly start to add some of your own artistic flare to it.
The real challenge ahead of you is not the craft, you can learn it through practice and slowly become the best. Your challenge will be in finding people to pay you for it. You need to find an affluent area where people appreciate good stonework and are willing to pay for it. It’s a great idea to work in a small artistic stone company to learn the craft… make sure and pay close attention to how the business operates… work at a place that mirrors what you want your future business to be.
Beware of companies that do stone veneer on huge projects… you will become a machine.
Strive to become an artist.
Noah
Originally posted 2016-03-08 15:43:51.
That is great advice to study the work of the old to work on being the best. My friend is working on becoming a stonemason. I’ll have to share your article with him.
Yes indeed… A good stone mason is an artist… and all those folks in art school first go study the masters who came before them… and then they do their best to copy them … until eventually they come up with their own style. I’ve learned everything I know from studying what has worked (stood the test of time), and what has failed, and what has remained timelessly attractive. And then added modern techniques and materials IF it made things a bit better.
Thanks for the comment!
Thanks for sharing this! Its a really tough business, but a good stone mason can make a good career out of it.
It is a tough business… the work is labor intensive… and rarely fully appreciated for the effort and talent that goes into creating it.
And then there is the business aspect of it… which can suck all the joy out any profession… from clients wanting something done for nothing… and then many not paying for completed work.
But I wouldn’t trade it for anything… what else can we do in this life that is beautiful, functional, and durable than fine stonework?
seriously enjoyed this post thank you!!
Thank you Dave. 🙂