Do You Own a Carving from my Collection Series Marble Sculpture?
Or would you like to own one, or more, but are still a little unclear of just what it is all about?
Today I would like to take the opportunity to explain my concept of a Collection Series Collectors Club that makes the ownership and trading potential of my signature fine art marble sculpture as easy and convenient as can be. For with sales of The67 Collection Series approaching the half-way mark, now would be a good time to reveal the concept behind a body of work that was conceived and carved to bring fine art marble sculpture into the mainstream, and into the possession of practically one and all.
Of Course, back in September 2011, when I split and carved The Maiden Collection Block into 41 individual sculptures, I could have no idea in which direction my new project would progress. But what I did know was that I wanted the resulting carvings to be nice and light and portable as can be. For until this point I had carved my way through a literal mountain of masonry work that included huge fireplace surrounds, entrance signs, window and door jams, large stone installations and fountains; and all of this heavy lifting could prove at times quite taxing in the extreme. Consequently – with my move into sculpture and away from large commercial projects needing cranes, huge trucks and lifting gear in order to simply move it – my new revolutionary idea was to cut out as much of the heavy, dead weight as possible in order to allow this most amazing new “miracle” stone, Colorado Yule marble, to truly strut its stuff, as it were.
“Light, portable and carved for full immersion in the real world”
As you can see from this picture, once The Maiden Collection slab was split and I hauled it into my workshop, the resulting blocks were still quite huge and of course, very, very heavy. How heavy I hear you ask? Well, just one cubic foot of marble weighs in at over 170 lbs. Yes, just one 12 inch by 12 inch by 12 inch block: a hundred and seventy pounds. Now bear in mind that the sculpture carved from blocks such as these routinely weigh somewhere in the region of just 40 to around 60 lbs. Meaning that the sculpture carved from these very blocks resulted in carvings that I myself may easily pick up, carry and move around, and I am hardly the strongest man in the world!
But what unexpected treasures I was about to discover as I gradually carved my way through the entire huge block. My first impression, as this being a big old brutal block of well matured marble – and at times the slab proved every bit as tough as it looked – soon softened to that of a much softer and more subtle element within the Yule that only came to light once I began carving to previously unimaginably thin proportions. And this is when things began to get very interesting indeed, for it seemed that this amazing stone would let me carve it to glass-like thinness, resulting in a stained glass-like montage of magnificent colors and hues that quite captured my imagination. Also, the marble appeared to be quite translucent at times, and although my efforts were met with occasional disaster along the way, slowly but surely The Yule began to yield her secrets, as the walls of my bowls continued to get thinner and thinner, while I literally honed my brand new technique to perfection.
Although by the time of The Maiden Collection‘s completion my newly adopted ‘Curvilinear’ style of carving was well established, and the concept of light and portable fine art marble sculpture was well underway, it would take the next two collections in the series – The 1314 Winter Collection and The Autumn of 14 Collection – to cement the idea of a collectible series of sculpture that would form one, large body of work; namely The Collection Series Marble Sculpture, CSMS, or The67, as I have now come to know my work. For each individual piece is well documented with its own web page (or Home Page as you will find them here on mc.com), each carries a serial number carved or etched usually into the underside of its base, and each carries my own unique ‘mark‘. And so, as you can see, the Collection Series is sculpture that was designed and carved in order to be collectible.
So it gives me great pleasure – now that we approach the half-way mark in Collection Series sales – to reveal a new exciting development that will make the ownership, sale and acquisition of my signature marble sculpture a pleasure and a cinch. May I introduce…
THE COLLECTORS CLUB
Collection Series Marble Sculpture
Comes To Life
Once You Set It Loose
For those who love real world sculpture here is an opportunity to enjoy a wide range of Colorado Yule Marble Sculpture over the course of a lifetime. May I introduce The Collectors Club.
The club’s goal is to provide the link between Collection Series Marble Sculpture owners in order to be able to connect, even swap and trade between themselves if they wish. For Kris and I, our job is to facilitate a buy back program that will enable existing owners to return their carving and put the money toward a more expensive sculpture, allowing for a wide range and variety of sculpture to replenish the market on an ongoing basis.
But it is not just the sculpture that will benefit from this new program, The Collectors Club will work out beautifully for the Hand Carved Marble Bowl Crowd, because Yule Marble Bowls just love to get out and about – around the home, on the patio, you can even take them to the office. Robust little bowls these are, I can tell you. They nestle nicely in a cardboard box, and easily ship double-boxed practically anywhere, such is the structural integrity of their Curvilinear Design. They also become very animated when moved from one place to the next, with mat-white stone bursting in to a blaze of light the instant it hits the sunlight, or is made semi-translucent when mounded with glistening cubes of ice. They also look great loaded pounds of delicious fresh fruit, nuts, chocolates, seashells, leaves, jewelry or practically anything you can imagine.
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It was somewhere around 2016 when the Collection Series as a concept began to gel, and with the production of my first edition Marble Sculpture Catalog A to Z you could say that, five years after splitting the slab, I had assembled what was to be my signature body of work. Of course, it has taken a number of years to near the half-way point in terms of sales, but as an unrepresented sculptor I have had to create each and every sale myself, and so I was under no illusion as to how demanding a task this would prove. Never-the-less, here we are now at the stage whereby Kris and I can point to dozens of sales amounting to tens of thousands of dollars – proving in our minds at least that this is a tried and tested product that has been very well received whenever encountered by the public.
Click Here for link to 2016 catalog. And Click Here for link to 2018 catalog.
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And so, all-in-all, with almost half of the sculptures already collected, and the other half there just waiting to be owned, we think that this is indeed the perfect moment to launch the second phase of our Collection Series roll out. Please read on if you are at all interested in acquiring a piece of the series for yourself as I think you will be quite intrigued in the prospect that I will now present, for brevity and clarity, in the form of a Q and A.
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Collectors Club Q and A
How do I become a member of the Collectors Club?
If you own a piece of The Collection Series Marble Sculpture by me, Martin Cooney, then you are already a member, as ownership of the carving is your ticket to membership. And as all of my CSMS are engraved with their serial number, along with my own personal ‘mark’, plus the fact that my work is so very unique requiring great skill and experience with which to carve, then it is unlikely in the extreme that duplicates and forgeries will be even attempted, let alone taken seriously. We therefore have an entirely documented series of 67 marble sculptures that fall within a finite category of work that, over the years, will hopefully grow from The67 to TheWho-Knows-What? For once these carvings from the first three collections are sold, as I am sure they will, then a fourth, fifth, sixth and who knows how many future collections will follow.
How do I benefit as a member?
As a member of The Collectors Club you may return any Collection Series Marble Sculpture to THE KMJ in order to procure the purchase of any carving for sale within the Collection Series with a value of 25 per cent or higher. The sculpture must of course be undamaged, but as not a single one of The67 has been reported injured, to my knowledge, these are very sturdy sculptures and well able to handle themselves out there “in the real world”. Ship it back. Simple as that. Once we have received and checked it, and the financial arrangements are taken care of, we’ll ship your new Collection Series Marble Sculpture out to you right away.
Also Collectors Club members will enjoy pre-public release options to purchase newly carved pieces from future collections.
How much will I receive when I return my Collection Series Marble Sculpture?
Once verified, inspected and cleared, Collectors Club members will receive a 100 percent credit for the amount that they paid for the piece, minus any packing and shipping charges that may have ensued during the original sales transaction. This total may be then used to put toward the purchase of any Collection Series Marble Sculpture priced 25% or more of higher value. The cost of packing and shipping the new carving will be negotiated contingent upon the circumstances of each individual sale, as these sort of details are difficult to procure with so many variables at play. But we will work diligently to ensure that everyone is happy with the outcome.
What if I didn’t purchase the sculpture myself but it was a gift?
The question of who purchased the bowl is less relevant than who now legitimately owns the carving, and who has the decision making power to ‘trade up’ as it were, and turn-in the value of their current Collection Series Marble Sculpture for an upgrade to a more expensive carving. Of course we cannot be responsible for persons acting irresponsibly by sending us sculpture that they do not own, or have the right to exchange it. But that said, there is little that we can do should such an unfortunate circumstance arise. Never-the-less we do not anticipate such a scenario as the great majority of people who have bought into the collection are those to whom we have sold to face-to-face, as it were, right here at THE KMJ, back in Birdhaven, Woody Creek, and upon our various travels around Colorado and Texas. And the sales in which we had no direct interaction were either procured via their particular Home Page right here on this website, or by a handful of very well respected galleries.
And what if I have no idea of how it came into my possession, how do I know its value?
Fortunately for all of us, Kris is a wiz when it comes to all things bookkeeping and accounts, and to that I could add a long slew of clerical and administrative skills, among them her organization and efficiency with all matters regarding the business aspect of running THE KMJ. Consequently she maintains a meticulous and ongoing record of all financial dealings and has at her fingertips every detail of every sale made to date within The Collection Series 67 Marble Sculptures. It won’t take her long before the details are figured out and a plan presented for the member’s consideration.
What if the piece is in a visibly damaged condition?
If a piece of Collection Series Marble Sculpture is returned in a damaged condition it will be immediately appraised as to whether it can be repaired and refurbished in such a way as to not alter the overall look and feel of the piece. Any necessary restoration work will be deducted from the sculpture’s value. If the carving is just too damaged to repair then I would suggest that it not be returned at all, as there comes a point where a piece is really just destroyed and cannot be repaired. But in most cases slight chips and cracks really can be repaired and restored. However care should be taken to protect your marble investment at all times.
Why do you call your Collection Series Marble Sculpture an ‘investment’?
Whenever the subject of ‘investment’ arises I am always sure to stress that the term does not imply or suggest a financial reward of any kind, but neither in my heart-of-hearts can I rule out the idea of my Collection Series gaining widespread acceptance, fame and fortune – as that was after all the plan all along. But we all know the art market to be a most fickle, introverted world, and one that I would never advocate as a sound financial choice where such considerations as a healthy profit margin provides the only criteria. But by investing in the purchase of my Collection Series Marble Sculpture you are participating in what I like to think of as a lifestyle upgrade, one that will bring many rewards as my fine art Colorado Yule Marble Collection Series Sculpture continues to provide both pleasure and contentment as it serves you down through the years.
But as to whether my Collection Series Marble Sculpture will be worth this or that, when or where, that is not a topic of mine on which to opine. No one really knows just whose work will go on to be worth a fortune and whose will be destined to for obscurity. All I can say is that I am now actively working to promote my signature Colorado Yule Marble Sculpture like never before.
What is a ‘Lifestyle Upgrade’?
The best answer to that question is to click onto my next post where I delve quite deeply into this topic as it lies at the heart of my Collection Series Marble Sculpture’s most compelling and convincing endorsements; that ownership of one or more carvings from the Collection Series brings with it an upgrade of life quality : lovely cool marble bowls lined with mounds of lush ripened fruit mean that you will eat more fruit. Bowls aglow with floating candles will alight your room; your favorite sculptures will peek out and surprise you from different angles, their marble in tune and reflecting the particular light at that time. sculpture makes the world just that bit more interesting, especially when you can simply pick it up and move it around.
Do you have a last word to say about The Collectors Club?
Yes, I would please ask all Collection Series Marble Sculpture owner reading this to please contact me at martincooneysculptor@gmail.com. If they wish, I would like to add their name, or a name, along with an indication on the sculpture’s Home Page as to the carving’s availability status. The categories would be something like: a) Will Never Sell. b) Not For Sale Now. c) Taking Offers. d) Asking Price. e) Motivated Seller. Owners will be free to add any additional information they wish, including any contact information they are comfortable with. A box will then contain this combined info, to be displayed on the sculpture’s Home Page here on martincooney.com. I must repeat that this is an entirely voluntary commitment, and customer confidence is paramount. The only information that we will ever post regarding the sculpture’s ownership is that which they mandate. But my hope is that all owners will feel as I do, as does Kris; that such a notion as The Collectors Club provides a compelling enough proposition, nay opportunity, that participation will steadily grow through the years and blossom into something quite magnificent.
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The Collectors Club: Now Open to Owners of Collection Series Marble Sculpture
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thanks for visiting martincooney.com
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MARTIN