Bill Lorraine

For the past ten years, my main interest as a visual artist has been sculpture. I use as my medium a very special indigenous stone called Miami Oolite, a calcium carbonate formation that makes up most of the South Florida coastal areas, including the Florida Keys. The only large, dense examples of Miami Oolite found today are the cornerstones supporting the old Victorian Conch houses in Key West. They were deep-quarried a hundred years ago in the upper Keys.

For years I have been collecting the best examples of these historic stones. As renovations of the old houses have taken place, contractors and carpenters around Key West have saved the best stones for me.

The whiteness of these stones is one of their biggest assets. I love the way the surface texture of the stones causes the light to diffuse into a soft glow.

Most of my subjects are abstractions of human forms and from nature. I am most happy with my finished pieces when they possess a certain tension within their design.

Having lived in Key West for 30 years, I have a love for tropical gardens, and my sculptures are conceived to be at home in the garden environment.

Bill Lorraine