Stone Freak turns masonry career into passion for art

“An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.”

The words of Charles Bukowski don’t resonate with everyone. For some, like Orillia’s David Mangoff, there’s solace in reading the controversial figure’s literature.

A stonemason by trade, as an artist, Mangoff goes by the moniker Stone Freak. When he realized his passion for shaping Earth’s tougher substances, he wanted to incorporate more artistic sculptures in the walls he built.

His first design in 2018 was titled ‘the sad man.’ But it was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that his art form materialized from the inkling it once was.

Originally a play on a self-portrait, and named after the era of its conception, ‘covidman’ was born. The sculpture is a 300-pound human face, with wide eyes and a gaping expression.

The pandemic wasn’t a simple time for anyone. For Mangoff, it amplified his struggle with mental health issues. Now in his 60s, having suffered numerous concussions in his life, he says, compounds his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression.

As International Self-Care Day approaches this month (July 24), the Stone Freak is advocating for self-awareness and the importance of maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

“The number of men who suffered concussions before the concussion-awareness era … and what they wrestle with later … (it’s a struggle) if they don’t have the healthy pillars going on,” Mangoff says from his own experiences.

The first pillar, he explains, is knowledge and health literacy.

A report from the Public Health Agency of Canada published in 2022 suggests a link between concussions and depression. It states concussions were associated with many poor/negative mental health outcomes among youth.

Always with a book in hand, the Stone Freak is self-taught in the realm of art. He also reads a lot about maintaining a healthy mind.

The International Self-Care Foundation highlights health literacy as as the first pillar of self-care. It allows individuals to seek information about any aspect of their health or lifestyle. The effect is a balanced life built on understanding.

“The key (is) about self-awareness, especially as you’re aging, and I’m still having issues,” Mangoff says.

For people with ADHD, productivity can be a challenge. Mangoff describes his own struggles with focus and how something as simple as his diet can contribute to behavioural issues.

The second pillar of self-care is mental well-being. The third is physical activity. Mangoff finds a way to maintain both of these pillars through his art. The fourth pillar of self-care is healthy eating.

Becoming a volunteer with The Sharing Place Food Centre, he says, “was the most enlightening thing to do.”

“It’ll knock the self-pity out of anybody … Kudos to every front-line worker out there,” he says.

His art also motivates him.

“I pride myself on being self-aware,” he says as he describes carefully moving the sculptures weighing hundreds of pounds with a dolly and not injuring himself in the process.

Yet as an artist, his biggest fear is self-criticism. What helps him overcome that fear is nature.

“Let the fear of failure go because Mother Earth has more rocks than I will ever need,” he says.

Mangoff finds joy from improving his artistic skills, always learning how to read the cracks and work with the rocks as he forms them into new shapes. Even when they break, it’s a learning experience and an opportunity for him to rework the pieces.

For Orillia’s 2024 Starry Night Studio and Gallery Tour, Mangoff brought pieces of granite and diamond brushes to demonstrate stone polishing. It was a positive experience, he says, that led him to new ideas.

A couple of turtle carvings that fit in the palm of his hand sit with other stones and boulders at his worksite. Mangoff wants to share with others struggling with mental health issues that the polishing process can be meditative.

Unlike the turtles, most of his work involves large stones that weigh hundreds of pounds. Being physically fit is vital in his work. Whether transporting a piece to a gallery or moving it while working, he needs to be careful.

“The sculptors told me the most important thing is (to) figure out where the bottom is,” he says.

Mangoff interviewed other artists to learn about the finer techniques of sculpting stone. Cutting each piece to form, the bottom surface can take all day, depending on his medium.

Shaping granite for so many years, he says the limestone he recently acquired is “like butter.”

Stonemasons work with the Mohs scale to determine the scratch resistance of minerals, with one being the softest and 10 being the hardest. Limestone has a Mohs hardness of about three or four, Mangoff explains. Granite ranks at six or seven.

Seeking to challenge himself with different earthly mediums and more detailed designs, Mangoff turns to nature for inspiration.

He chisels and saws turtles, pigs, birds, and almost anything the rock makes him think of.

“Whenever somebody asks, ‘How long did that take you?’ I always think of the squirrel … By its fifth shape, I was happy,” he says.

There’s a vision he sees in the stone before he starts cutting, like the 1,800-pound boulder that sits in his outdoor workspace.

He sees its shape already: a bison.

As he describes it, the form of the resting bovine creature is revealed. He follows the patterns in the rock with his hands, explaining that millions of years ago, it was two different lava flows, now displaying rough edges and colour differences.

“I try to keep live edge on them because it tells people, ‘I have history,’” he says, referring to minimizing the amount of polishing he does.

“Galleries like polish. I don’t because I like the sparkle and how it interacts with Mother Nature.”

Mineral components like mica and quartz will shimmer in the sunlight. When polished to look more like marble, the effect is lost, he explains.

For his next challenge, Mangoff is sculpting puddingstone.

Deposited by glaciers millions of years ago, puddingstone is a conglomerate. It’s a sedimentary rock that resembles cement, but it has pieces of rounded pebbles in it. The red and green pebbles look like the currants in Christmas pudding — hence its unique name.

Often used in the jewelry industry, puddingstone has a rank of 7.5 on the Mohs scale. What inspired the Stone Freak to take on the challenge of carving it?

He was told it’s never been sculpted before. So, he learned everything he could about puddingstone before working on it. The first piece became an owl, 16 inches tall, which he sold through the Red Canoe Gallery in Bala.

As time ticks forward, people grow and change. The Stone Freak is returning to his ‘covidman’ sculpture with a fresh idea there, too. He plans to shape a syringe with puddingstone as the vaccine for his sculpture.

Not lacking for ideas, the Stone Freak knows managing his time and maintaining his health are key to getting things done.

More of Mangoff’s art can be found at stonefreakmuskoka.ca or the Red Canoe Gallery website.