C to C

Almost 25 tons of stone purchased from Attia Quarries close to Minden, Ontario was used for the hands-on, week-long Dry Stone Structures course given May 2007 at the Haliburton School of Art + Design. The finished structure represents the work of 12 capable students who came from as far away as Montana, Washington and Ottawa to attend this comprehensive dry stone wall workshop. 'C to C' is a free standing dry laid sculpture designed by DSWAC president John Shaw-Rimmington. It uses an attractive locally quarried random granite gneiss carefully fitted together to form two semi-circular walls. The idea is based on taking a typical dry laid sheepfold (the type you see all over parts of England and Scotland) and then slicing it down the middle and shifting one side several feet along the line of bi-section. (Sort of a 'Sheep Shear'). In effect, a charming new structure is created presenting a winding pathway through two C shaped walls. The height of the two walls, including the vertical rugged coping, is nearly 4 and a half feet high; standing between them, there is a dynamic interior space which is intimate and inviting. We have called the dry laid structure "C to C" as it alludes not only to the different parts of North America that people came from to build the structure, but also the growing interest there is in traditional dry stone construction all over Canada and the States, from sea to sea.