What it is
Alabaster is a fine-grained gypsum stone (the carving alabaster of the trade; the term has also been used historically for a banded calcite). It is soft, well below marble on the hardness scale, and notably translucent.
Characteristics
The softness means it cuts quickly and takes fine detail, but it is unforgiving of a heavy hand and sensitive to water and heat. The translucency is the point: thinned in the right places, alabaster glows rather than just reflects, which changes how a form is lit and read.
How Tine works it
A different touch than marble. The speed of the cut and the way light enters the stone push the decisions, and the thinness of a passage becomes a sculptural choice, not just a structural one.
Sourcing
Through Art City Studios in Ventura.
Examples
Alabaster pieces are shown below, each with its own page. Pricing is on inquiry.
