The Liberty Bowl / Web Page / COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE by Martin Cooney / For Sale

Posted on July 13, 2025February 28, 2026 by Martin Cooney, Stone Sculptor

COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE

Carved by MARTIN COONEY

The Liberty Bowl / $5,400 / The Liberty Collection / Colorado Yule Marble

18.5 x 11.5 x 7.5″ / 23lbs / SN250501

Currently Displayed at The Martin Cooney STONEWORKS

121 Liberty Street, Council Grove, Kansas 66846

Please email martincooneysculptor@gmail.com for purchase information

The Liberty Bowl

It is not often in my long life that words fail me, but the deep significance and profound implications of the recent completion and carving of my Mark on the underside of The Liberty Bowl has left me with a quite difficult challenge when, as I am now, charged with the task of relating the full account of how extraordinarily unlikely this moment in time appeared to me just six short months ago.

A miracle, in fact, and nothing short of that quite describes the emotion I now feel in typing these words and groping for some means with which to relate the emotions now running through my veins. Because, this being the 68^th carving in my signature Collection Series Marble Sculpture repertoire, never have I felt so challenged when charged with the task of penning a carving’s Home Page. So, where do I begin?

Curvilinear Campfire

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Perhaps I should pick up from where I left off with Curvilinear Campfire – believe it or not, all the way back on December 23^rd, 2014. Yes, two-thousand-and-fourteen. Little did I know at the time that a ten-year sculptural drought was about to descend on my career, but that, sadly, was the case. During that ‘Lost Decade’ many Collection Series marble sculptures were sold, but alas, none were created. So as the portfolio slowly whittled down to about half its original size I was left wondering when, or more chillingly, if, any further carvings would be added to what has become my signature life’s work.

Please click on an image to enlarge.

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The miracle began to unfold almost immediately upon our arrival in the quaint little Kansas town of Council Grove. The situation was that Kris and I had summoned up the nerve, the strength and fortitude to exit Colorado after twenty years, when we realized that our prospects there had dried up to the point that there seemed no point trying to vie with the absorbent cost of living and increasingly crowded landscape, Gorgeous as it was; the dream we carried with us to the outskirts of Aspen, as realized by my compact and beautiful stoneyard and workshop, nestled side-by-side with our home in a 100 year-old cabin … had dissolved into a struggle for survival. Our gallery was floundering amidst post Covid gloom, and all-in-all, we lost hope that the situation would turn itself around. So, by January of 2023 we strengthened our resolve and made the fateful decision to pull up and move out, WITH our beloved sculpture collection, personal belongings and all.

It took a full six months to prepare for the exodus, but by mid-June we had everything packed up and set off “back East to the Old Wild West”. “What?”, everyone cried. “Kansas”. “Really?!”

Yes, really.

A handmade, elegant marble bowl with smooth contours and a minimalist design, showcasing its white surface and subtle veining.

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I know, this is a long story – but it IS the story of The Liberty Bowl, The Liberty Collection and the entire future of my life’s signature achievement: The Collection Series Marble Sculpture.

So, upon our arrival in Council Grove, Kansas, in June of 2023, we drove our big, black bus – retrofitted as a camper, but concealing within twelve Collection Series sculptures as examples of what lay in storage back in Colorado. As it happens, this pretty little town nestled in the rolling Flint Hills countryside possesses a couple of beautiful lakes, one residential and one ringed with half-a-dozen campsites which we began to occupy on a regular basis as we roamed and explored this unexpectedly picturesque part of The Sunflower State.

A person sitting on a large block of marble in a workshop, surrounded by tools and a large window.

A woman in a white coat stands next to a large block of stone, which is labeled with a red and green inscription, inside a workshop with exposed brick walls and a large window in the background.

Eventually, we were to meet two important people: Kelley and Jill Judd. It’s a long story, but needless to say that we all got along very well, and during the following 18 months, as Kris and I settled into our small flat here in Alta Vista and developed The Walled Garden of Alta Vista with local businessman Ben Kormanic, Kelley and I began to dream up a plan of starting a joint venture in Council Grove that would not only house and display my sculpture, but would provide a first-class carving facility that would facilitate the continuation of my Collection Series. Fast-forward to January of this year, and that is exactly what we did – turning an old welding boat dock building into the dream stone carving workshop and showroom gallery.

Click on an image to enlarge.

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Reviving the old red brick building, taking out lots of junk and replacing it with plinths, banker blocks (the concrete block workbenches that I carve on), putting in windows and doors where there were previously none … was ever so slightly exhausting. But my way of working is to work like mad until the task is done. Finished. Complete. Which is how the place stands today. But upon the arrival of the three-ton Liberty Collection Colorado Yule Marble slab, I couldn’t help myself – I simply had to ‘nibble off a corner’ and take a look at just what I now had on my hands. At this point, the place was still practically a shell, but what the heck, I just couldn’t help myself. I simply HAD to carve something. And so, obviously, a bowl it was – since nothing says Collection Series louder than a beautiful Curvilinear Reductionist Hand Carved Marble Bowl!

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Right from the off it was obvious that I had a really, really quite extraordinary whiter than white marble to carve from. Blindingly white when the sun shines directly onto its glistening surface.

The notion to nibble off a corner of the slab and carve it stemmed from the will to show everyone just exactly where this important and prominent Collection Series sculpture had dwelt within the slab for 30 million years, or so. Quite often, when I explain to people that I carved a particular piece from a particular block they return a rather uncomprehending look as they grapple with the concept. For this deeply significant piece I wanted there to be no doubt: “Right there”, I would say as I repositioned the finished bowl to its inverted position on the prominent corner of the new Colorado Yule slab.

The name; Liberty Bowl? Simple. The Martin Cooney Stoneworks is located at 121 Liberty Street, Council Grove. The building, we christened, The Liberty Building. And The Liberty Bowl is therefore the first carving to be celebrated as sculpture within The Liberty Collection – a body of work that looks set to produce between 35 to 40 finished pieces.

A handcrafted marble bowl with a unique, curvilinear design, showcasing smooth, flowing lines and a glossy surface, created from Colorado Yule marble.

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The bowl itself is admittedly a rather modest project but tricking it to come out whole via the convoluted way I had to coax it off the corner was a whole ‘nother matter. Normally I split much easier patterns out of the marble, playing to the grain and what I know of the stone, but in this case, I had nothing to go on, so I dove in with a rather ambitious split reminiscent of the split I undertook with my last two Collection Series carvings: Troglodyte Cloister and Curvilinear Campsite.

Please click on an image to enlarge.

Splitting Troglodyte Cloister & Curvilinear Campfire, by MARTIN COONEY, rough blocks.

'Curvilinear Campfire', Colorado Yule Marble Sculpture by MARTIN COONEY

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These two were similarly offset splits, but the challenge served to make each sculpture that bit more special, so in full view of a small, assembled crowd I malleted away until The Liberty Bowl rough block popped out … thankfully in one large piece.

Elegant marble bowl named The Liberty Bowl, showcasing a curvilinear design with a smooth white surface, displayed against a dark background.

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And so, I write all this to set the record straight. Modest she may be, but The Liberty Bowl will always hold a special place in my heart. And if you are reading this and want this stylish Hand Carved Marble Bowl to adorn your special place, or places, as you can simply pick her up and take her along, then I just wanted you to know just how really, really, really special she is. And like all my marble bowls, she is carved for full immersion in the real world and protected by an invisible Italian impregnating sealant that has water beading up and rolling around her surface as if for fun. So, fill her with ice, pile her with shellfish, your latest catch, flowers, fruit, vegetables, prime rib, oysters – she is a display bowl after all. She will never let you down, even when she is set all alone on a table, in the window where she will blaze her translucency for all the world to see. Beam a spotlight on her and the same effect will carry itself to the eye of all beholders. In other words, have fun with her as my Collection Series Marble Sculpture tends to get bored if just set in one place for too long a time.

The Liberty Bowl holds many similarities with other Collection Series Marble Bowls, depending on which angle you view her. But some of the shapes and outlines are reminiscent of several bowls, including Sparrow, Coracle and Felucca.