Artist

Stoney Lamar

born Alexandria, LA 1951
Media - 2003.60.31 - SAAM-2003.60.31_1 - 60137
Stoney Lamar, Self-Portrait, 1992, box elder, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur and Charles Bresler in honor of Kenneth R. Trapp, curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery (1995--2003), 2003.60.31
Born
Alexandria, Louisiana, United States
Active in
  • Saluda, North Carolina, United States
Biography

Stoney Lamar studied wood technology at Appalachian State University, then started a woodworking shop to make and sell furniture with his wife, Susan. After borrowing a friend's lathe he began to turn wood and liked the spontaneity that this allowed. He attended workshops given by David Ellsworth, and Mark and Melvin Lindquist, and he also worked as an apprentice to the Lindquists in 1984. Lamar avoids traditional vessel forms, and his sculptures disguise the use of the lathe with their carved circles, strong vertical forms, and solid blocks.