Chris Brown has had an intense love for the natural world ever since he was a small child living in Selden, NY. During the summers, his mother sent him with his sister to summer camp in Vermont. These few weeks every summer along with some very thoughtful teachers at school really helped encourage Chris in all things science and nature. Being an albino and legally blind really helped Chris not stray into the more "normal" areas of interest that most kids follow, but rather to stay intensely focused on the two things he loved most: nature and art.
At age 11, the family moved out to Billings, Montana, where he immediately fell in love with the Beartooth Mountains and in particular with collecting rocks along the Yellowstone River which was walking distance from his home. The hobby stayed with him into adulthood, until at one point he found an interesting stone that he wanted cut and polished. The search for someone to cut it eventually led him to a granite countertop place where he started working and has been in the industry as a fabricator ever since. That was in January of 1995.
Over these 27 years, Chris has considered himself to be one of those lucky few who have a job that they truly enjoy. In 2008, living with his wife and three kids in Fort Collins, Colorado, Chris began to bring home the cut-outs and other interesting pieces from work, where he has been primarily involved in the cutting and finishing of the sink holes in the countertops. These piled up rather quickly in the back yard, and so the artist's mind began to come up qith ways to use this material, which was simply to cool to throw away!
After building a patio and walkways all around the house.. there was still a lot left over, and so it was that Chris, with much help from his lovely wife and three hard-working kid, began to create what has now become Chris's Granite Paradise. The combination of the materials from the countertop industry and the other rocks and minerals from Chris's more traditional rock collecting hobby combine to produce what could modestly be called a rock garden on steroids!
Chris is currently a member of the Fort Collins Rockhounds, and has several good friends with which he goes rock hunting in various parts of Colorado and Wyoming. These people have also been a constant encouragement, and without whom Chris would rarely have opportunity to obtain the vast array of unique stones that complement the sculptures in the garden. So, if you are able to visit the garden, be sure to look at the ground as well as at the sculptures!
Reclaimed Stone
The counter top industry utilizes natural stones from tens of thousands of quarries in literally every country of the world. Through the long process from the quarry to the home kitchen, many exact localities become lost in the paperwork and we can only guess as to where such an amazing variety comes from. However, the top producers by far are India and Brazil. Here in the Garden, we have varieties also from Finland, Norway, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Mexico, China, Russia, and even one or two from the United States!
Besides the sculptures themselves, the gravels and decorative rock displays include an ever growing array of "eye candy"... rocks collected from far and wide for the mere pleasure of savoring them with our eyes! Current localities represented include Calfornia, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Mexico.
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Granite Paradise
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Hello and thanks for posting my work!!! You do an awesome job creating a good overview. I am honored to be in your blog. Keep up the good work.
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