Self-taught through watching his father, Jacob developed a different approach to the craft. He’s meticulous and a bit of a perfectionist, whereas his father “shoots and lets it rip, and it’s for sale.” He envies Roger’s quick creativity. But nodding to the portal his father praised earlier, Jacob says, “I can see the lines that the wire made in that circle, but to him, it’s not even there. I would have put at least five more hours into it.”
Although their styles differ, they agree about sourcing the boulders. They are rock hunters first and sculptors second. The sculpting is the easy part — the work is in the hunt. “The moment I see the right size and shape, I get excited and want to buy it because it’s rare to find these shapes,” Jacob says.
The hunt takes them to quarries all over California and Mexico in search of the perfect rounded stones. “The process itself is several days, but we don’t just go look for one rock at a time,” Jacob says of their regular expeditions. “We’re out there buying a truckload. It’s like an Easter egg hunt; you gotta know what you’re looking for.”
“It’s just a primordial feeling with these big boulders,” Roger says. Rarely will they take a stone home not already knowing whether it will be a hot tub, firepit, or portal. “I’ve sliced up boulders where I got five or six firepits out of them,” he says.
This is why they don’t advertise or seek out clients. “I spend my time making a product that doesn’t have a shelf life,” Jacob explains. “Eventually, someone will want it … I’d rather do that than [try] to find a sale.”
“It’s amazing to watch, because no two people are alike,” Roger says of their customers. “Some are overwhelmed, but then I had one guy come in here, and he picked out a whole trailer load for his place in Hawaii.”
For now, customers encounter the studio as it is — open land dotted with stacked stones, finished pieces, and works in progress. But Jacob has big plans for the future. As he and Roger discuss his eventual takeover of the business, Jacob hopes to build out his own “field of dreams” concept. “The place will get a lot more organized, and I’ll put some money into the appearance, make it nicer to spend time in,” he says. “Like, if you wanted to just come and be with the rocks.”
No matter the condition of the space, it’s the ebb and flow of chaos and order that enables this father-son team to chisel a legacy of their own — one stone at a time.
