I start with whole rock and use a large, heavy billet to break off a face. Using the spall I work the stone down through percussion reduction using smaller and smaller billets as the work gets finer. The point can be left as is, with a percussed flake scar pattern or it can be more finely worked with pressure instruments. Notching can also be added and is performed with a specialized pressure flaker.
This artform is completely reductionist sculpture - it only gets smaller, you can never add to it. During the hours it takes to create a single point, I may strike the rock more than a thousand times; any one of these strikes, if misplaced, can break the rock completely, leaving me with nothing but expensive gravel at my feet.
The unused half of each boulder becomes the base rock on which the finished point is displayed. I think it shows the arrowhead being cradled directly within the rock from which it was borne, illustrating the rough, fragile, raw nature of our existence.
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