The client was building a new addition to their home that included a new fireplace at the focal end of a large family room with a high cathedral ceiling. They were resisting the traditional wood mantel the builder wanted to make. But they didn’t know what else they could do. They connected with Lyn. Through a lengthy dialog, Lyn discovered their need for warmth and welcoming in the space as well as something that used the light in the room and would define and anchor the room. Also this was a marriage of two countries, Italy and Irish American. So there was love of stone itself and a love of large gatherings in celebration. There was also a natural pleasure in texture and a nuanced palette around neutrals.
Lyn found a beautiful piece of Arabescatto white-on-white figured marble. She laid out the cuts that allowed for a stacking of three layers of stone. These were rough carved off-site to develop a highly gnarled affect. The natural figuration on the top was textured so as to appear as if a meandering stream of water with a rougher sand-like shore was flowing down the length of the mantel and falling off the edge. After installation, the piece was given a final detail shaping and polishing to maximize the actual way the light in the room reflected and the eye responded to the piece.
