Working together as an artist team, we have been designing and carving low relief architectural ornaments for residential and commercial clients since 1991. Our work is inspired by the Mediterranean stonework of the Renaissance, however we enjoy working with designs from all styles and eras. Most projects are residential, but clients also include restaurants, hotels and wineries. 
The ornaments are hand carved in a reconstituted limestone product, which is applied as a wet slurry to surfaces previously created by licensed faux stone applicators. These applicators specialize in applying the limestone coating to a variety of interior and exterior walls, framed fire place mantels, wine cellars and other areas where an authentic stone look is desired. We then add our carving on top of this existing layer to further enhance the stone work. The ornaments are sculpted while the stone material is still soft, allowing the use of ordinary clay and plaster tools. The material sets up completely in 8 hours or less, so speed is of the essence!
Each carving is unique, molds and castings are never used. This enables us to completely customize each ornament to fit the client’s needs and wishes. We design and hand draw all patterns used for the carvings. The patterns are then re-worked into hand cut stencils which are used to transfer the design on to the wet limestone layer and the shaping of the ornament can begin. As a final step the carvings are often stained and distressed to give them an “antique" appearance. Once cured the stone material is extremely hard and is excellent for both interior and exterior applications.
To see more of Åke’s and Leslie's individual art work we encourage you to visit www.grunditzart.com.
