Austin Gem and Mineral Society : Rocks and Fossils Austin Texas

Austin Gem & Mineral Society
Fun, Education, and Resources for Professionals, Enthusiasts, and Central Texans

Houston Museum of Natural Science
Gerd Dreher Exhibit

Gerd is consider by many to be the world's finest hard-rock carver. After seeing the exhibit of around 60 of his works, I cannot imagine anyone doing better work. The majority of his work is carved from a single stone.

Gerd is from a long line of carvers of which the earlier generations did works for Faberge`. Gerd's son is walking in the footsteps of his father and several of his works were displayed.

	Chimpanzees are a favorite of his and you can see how he used the banding in the rough to give the chimps different colored hands and face. As you can imagine, the actual pose of the subject is not selected until the animal is roughed into shape.
	The mouse to the left is another great example of a single piece of rough resulting in a dynamic, well colored sculpture.
	This mouse on a toadstool was cut fom a single piece of amythist.
	This snail was one of my favorites.

Austin Gem and Mineral Society