1314 Winter Collection Portfolio / Series 2 / COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE by Martin Cooney

Posted on March 4, 2026March 28, 2026 by Martin Cooney, Stone Sculptor

THE COLLECTION SERIES / Series 2

1314 Winter Collection Portfolio

~ Colorado Yule Marble ~ 14 Carvings ~ by Martin Cooney

I doubt that it will come as any sort of surprise t o learn that the 1314 Winter Collection was carved during the winter months spanning 2013 to 2014. But what may somewhat amaze you, when you see the pictures, is the quite shockingly severe weather inflicted by my eleventh Colorado Rocky Mountain winter season. Of course by this point I was somewhat familiar with the snowy nature of winters, up at 8,000 feet, and the ever-present potential of mountain blizzard ‘white out’ conditions in this part of the world. But as I set about carving my first piece, the aptly named ‘Mountains of Moab’, in late autumn, the weather was still rather warm – quite nice, in fact, despite the odd flurry of light snow, which was to be expected at that time of year. Halloween was upon us, but the air was soft and refreshing. Birds sang and children played. An Indian Summer people called it, and it sure was. However, all that was about to end once I set about the task of carving in earnest. The skies grew dark and menacing, thunder and lightning roared up and down The Roaring Fork Valley. Hail stones pounded the ground. The wind puffed itself into a frenzy. And then, the snow arrived – and boy, did it snow. And snow, and snow. And snow. Suddenly the extent of my task had grown exponentially.

~ Kris, a Deer Friend and Me ~ The Summer of ’13 ~ Birdhaven Sculpture Garden, Woody Creek, Colorado ~

~ ~ ~

PART ONE: THE GALLERY

PART TWO: MY COMMENTS

~ ~ ~

~ Winter Cometh ~

~ ~ ~

~ PART ONE ~

GALLERY

~ Please click on an image to enlarge, and click the links below each gallery to visit the sculpture’s web page ~

~ ~ ~

~ The Mountains of Moab ~

No. 1: The Mountains of Moab, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 42, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ On The Cusp ~

No. 2: On The Cusp, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 43, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Along The Way ~

No. 3: Along The Way, Web Page Web

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 44, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Maypole ~

No. 4: Maypole, Sold, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 45, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Lemonworld ~

Lemonworld, with ice, Collection Series Marble Sculpture by Martin Cooney.

No. 5: Lemonworld, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 42, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Inner Strength ~

'Inner Strength', Collection Series Marble Sculpture by Martin Cooney.

No. 6: Inner Strength, Withdrawn, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 47, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Mystique Masque ~

No. 7: Mystique Masque, Sold, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 48, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Please Click on an Image to Enlarge ~

~ Cat Walk ~

Cat Walk, Marble Sculpture by Martin Cooney

No.8: Cat Walk, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 49, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Finger Bowl ~

No. Finger Bowl, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 50, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Industrial Evolution ~

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ End

Industrial Evolution, self-pprtrait, with Finger Bowl, Collection Series Marble Sculpture by Martin Cooney.

Industrial Evolution, self-prtrait, Collection Series Marble Sculpture by Martin Cooney.

No. 10: Industrial Evolution, Self Portrait, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 51, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Birth of a Guin ~

No. 11: Birth of a Guin, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 52, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Wolf Man Jack ~

No. 12: Wolf Man Jack, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 53, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Reversed Equation ~

'Reversed Equation', 1314 Winter Collection, Colorado Yule Marble by MARTIN COONEY

No. 13: Reversed Equation: Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 54, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

~ Oblique Perspective ~

'Oblique Perspective', Colorado Yule Marble Sculpture, 1314 Winter Collection by MARTIN COONEY

No. 14: Oblique Perspective, Web Page Link

~ 1314 Winter Collection ~

~ Series 2 ~ COLLECTION SERIES MARBLE SCULPTURE: No. 55, by Martin Cooney ~

~ ~ ~

COMMENTS

Needless to say, when the snow arrived in such sudden abundance, joy abounded among the local skiing community – which meant almost everyone. They, however, were thinking of the sheer bliss of another ‘epic’ winter, and nothing else. I, on the other hand, was immediately put in mind of all the extra shoveling, the numbing cold, the wicked winds and all that accompanies a legendary ski season. Unlike them, I had just procured a beautiful stash of well-aged Colorado Yule Marble and was hellbent of carving my next COLLECTION SERIES: Series 2, to follow The Maiden Collection: Series 1. And all this excessive snow was not in my plan. Never-the-less, the show must go on (I said to myself), so each morning (it seemed) I dutifully dug a path along the 22 yards from cabin to workshop, raked snow off the corrugated tin roof, lit a nice toasty fire in the huge wood burner, went back, and had myself a hearty breakfast. Once the place had warmed up, I returned to the workshop and continued from where I left off the day before. This routine pretty much went on throughout the long winter months, as I steadily built upon the knowledge and skills I had acquired when carving The Maiden Collection several months prior

~ My daily commute – the gap between our cabin on the left and my workshop on the right ~

By this point a definitive theme was rapidly developing regarding my new ‘collection series’ concept. With the Maiden Collection it had of course been founded on the huge eleven by five-foot slab that arrived unexpectedly one day following a brief phone call earlier that morning. So engrossing had the experience been, in carving an entire block of marble, over a period of around 18 months or so, that upon completion I vowed to source another batch of similarly mature Colorado Yule with which to re-commence my newly found ‘Sculptural Journey’.

~ I don’t think the snow ever really stopped during that ‘epic’ 13/14 winter ~

The result of my enquiries, in search of such marble that I could sculpt into the second collection series, arrived not in one giant slab, but in multiple shapes and sizes, and it took quite some time to remove them from the swampy foggy bottom woodland wherein they had sat for at least several decades. Simply pulling them out of their predicament was a challenging task in itself. And transporting them over to my stone yard in Woody Creek proved a challenge too. However, oddly enough, the task of retrieving so many huge rectangular blocks of heavy marble was made that much easier on the day I had set aside to begin pulling them out of the woods, when the sky suddenly released a strong flurry of big white flakey flakes … of pure white snow that settled like a blanket upon the ground. In a flash it came to me: go back home, bring the large heavy duty nylon sled that I used to shunt stone blocks around my yard, and use it to ‘glide’ these bruisers down along the path toward my truck, where a low trailer was set to tow them home. Brilliant. And you know what? It worked, like a charm.

~ Throughout the entire winter snow piled up. I shovelled th paths and raked the roof, afraid it might collapse ~

Within two or three days I had all the marble I needed to plough on with my new and exciting project. By this time, I had not only plenty of time to thoroughly examine each and every marble block – pulling out only those which showed plenty of promise, but I was also given all the time I needed in deciding just what to do with them. What a marvelous prospect. And what a fantastic opportunity now lay before me.

Finger Bowl, rough block, Collection Series Marble Sculpture by Martin Cooney.

~ Deep mid-winter brought its share of challenges in just getting the rough blocks into the workshop ~

In the time it took to sort, maneuver and transport my chosen marble blocks back to my workshop, I had ample time to reflect on the nature of this new, as yet unnamed collection. My mind wandered back to The Maiden Collection. I thought of how the carving process developed from exploration, with the early forays into what I came to think of as The Brutal Belt, and how those early pieces differed quite significantly from the later ‘art of crafting’ ever more refined marble bowls. The earlier pieces stood as quite bold artistic statements. Such carvings as ‘Mabel, Spirit of the Stone’, ‘Terrible Lizard’, ‘Things One and Two’ and ‘The Demure One’ clearly made more of a statement than later contributions that served to refine the Curvilinear nature of ‘Light, Portable and Carved for the Real World’ sculpture that exemplified itself most significantly with the newly conceived Curvilinear Marble Bowls. However, in setting out to carve this new winter collection, I set my course to create a new body of work that would explore the possibilities presented by what I conceived as ‘Standing Stones’. This would materialize in sculptures such as ‘Maypole’, ‘Inner Strength’, ‘Wolf Man Jack’, ‘Reversed Equation’ and ‘Oblique Perspective.

~ ‘Finger Bowl’ was so frozen to the ground and hard as a rock that it took two days to thaw so that I could carve him ~

But in regard to the bowls, I would carve them larger and more robust, yet still as light and portable as could be. This is how ‘On The Cusp’, ‘Along The Way’ and ‘Lemonworld’ came about. I wanted to create a balanced collection, and one that would differ visually and in tone from The Maiden Collection. At this point, I had no idea that the first Marble Mask would appear in the form of my self-portrait, ‘Industrial Evolution’. But then again, the development of the tall bowl in the form of ‘Finger Bowl’ and ‘Birth of a Guin’ wasn’t exactly on the cards either. But that exemplifies the magic of Direct Method marble sculpting. Instead of forging ideas upon the stone, the idea is to essentially work with it – see what it has to say on the subject. See what it wants to be carved into. And no greater example of this is found in ‘Finger Bowl’ and his sister ‘Birth of a Guin’ – both carved from a rather ancient L-shaped quoin (a masonry term for a corner piece that binds two right-angled planes together). When I rescued the quoin, it was far too large to carve, so I first split it lengthways down the middle. Then, upon completing ‘Fingerbowl’, I realized that although battered and worn, the actual marble itself was, well, quite superb, and could support a much more ambitious carving; hence, ‘Birth of a Guin’s quite absurdly large, beaky head, peering down on a newborn Guin; with what sort of intention, exactly? Nurture? Or food?

Maypole, rough block, 1314 Winter Collection by MARTIN COONEY

~ ‘Maypole’ The carving process from start to finish ~

Six Standing Stones, five Large Bowls, two Marble Masks, one ‘Mountain of Moab’ ( …and a partridge in a pear tree…), this second edition of my newly evolved and rapidly developing COLLECTION SERIES concept certainly didn’t disappoint – at least not to me.

~ Although besieged by snow and storms, my workshop remained in operation all winter long ~

To put the 1314 Collection into perspective; upon completion of carving number 14, ‘Oblique Perspective’, I was to pack my bags and head for Tuscany in late March of 2014, where I was to spend three sublime months exploring the Carrara region, with particular emphasis on its world famous marble quarries, its exceptional carving facilities, galleries and everything to do with my new found calling: marble. What were they doing with marble over there? How did they quarry it? What was Carrara Marble really like? Was anybody doing with marble what I was doing, and intend to do for the rest of my life? Well, you can hop aboard my trip and follow my exploits in a series of posts I published here on martincooney.com under the banner above – Rogue Carver on the Loose in Italy. You’ll find it at the top of the page. And if you click on it, you will be whirled along what I call The North West Tuscan Way. It’s a journey that begins and ends in Pisa and takes in the gorgeous region to the north of the city, up along the coast, over to Pontremoli and down to beautiful Lucca – the belle of my heart. Once I returned from The North West Tuscan Way I would set about carving my third entry into the collection series catalog with my ‘Autumn of 14’ body of work bringing to life a great many concepts I had imagined as I toured the wild, rugged North Western Tuscan landscape. And believe me, upon my return I was immediately tempted to tear into the remaining marble and begin the third collection. However, that summer fate had different plans for me, and so it wasn’t until very late in the summer that I found myself free to dive back into the magical world of Collection Series Direct Method Carving – the results you can see for yourself in my next portfolio. Meanwhile, I really hope you enjoy reviewing the results of this, my second series. For in spite of the ‘challenging’ condition, seeing these pictures brings back nothing but wonderful memories.

~ ~ ~

~ The Birdhaven Studio Workshop, Winter of 2013/14, Woody Creek, Colorado, USA ~

~ Please click on a photo to enlarge and view the slideshow ~