Shaping a Life in Stone

by Shelley Dutton and Carrie McCarthy

photos: ©Wendy McEahern

When you visit Somers Randolph’s studio, nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in historic Santa Fe, you find yourself surrounded by delicate curves and arcs, intricate whorls and spirals, and sensuous, undulating knots – breathtaking shapes that reach upward and outward toward the light as surely as living things do.

Somers recalls, “When I was a student at Princeton, I saw a line drawing in a philosophy periodical that captured my attention. The image was a continuous shape, with no beginning and no end. I’m not big on shapes that stop.” So it’s not surprising that much of his work reflects the inherent energy and absolute integrity of closed curves, endlessly circling back upon themselves. While certain shapes recur, each piece is unique, speaking to the viewer in a distinctive way. Somers observes, “The interesting point for the sculptor is how the same shape can look completely different in each iteration. If I make one longer or wider, change the size, upend the orientation, the effect is always something new. Shapes that engage your mind have limitless potential.”

Stone is Somers’ medium. Most people don’t give much thought to stone; if they think of it at all, they likely envision something grey, heavy, and cold. But Somers sees it differently. He says, “Our world is made of stone. Wherever you are, whether in the mountains, in a desert, or at the bottom of the sea, if you reach out or dig down you will find stone. The mineral content and method of formation determine the stone’s look and characteristics. Over millennia, the Earth has produced incredible colors and textures, which offer a stone carver infinite possibilities.”

Somers creates his pieces using granite, marble, alabaster, and onyx sourced from quarries around the world. And he always has an ear to the ground, alert for opportunities to obtain unique and beautiful stone. He recently noted, “Right now, I’m waiting for a shipment of 16 tons of Persian onyx. Getting it here is an arduous and round-about process that takes a while, but it will be worth the wait. The shipment includes white, blue, green, and pink onyx. It’s gorgeous, translucent stone; when it captures the light it glows from within.”

Just as Somers himself does, when he’s talking about his life and work as an artist.

The Artist’s Journey

Exactly where Somers’ identity as an artist began is hard to pinpoint, but one early influence stands out in his mind: “When I was young, I used to spend part of my summers at my Great Uncle Alfred’s place in Tennessee, surrounded by extended family – aunts and uncles and cousins of various degrees. Uncle Alfred was a federal judge with a particular hobby that he practiced at home and on the bench – he whittled. What I remember is that he was more interested in the long curls of cedar than in the stick itself. Inspired by Uncle Alfred, I took to whittling, too. There’s a unique satisfaction that comes from patiently paring away in order to discover something else entirely.”

Somers continues, “As I grew, whenever he would see me, Uncle Alfred would say, ‘Boy, let me see your pocket knife.’ And he would check to see if it was sharp by using it to shave the hairs on his arm. If it was sharp, I got a nod of approval; if not, I would be exhorted to go sharpen it immediately. A sharp knife was a ticket to wisdom. My great uncle was a sage, a respected elder within his family and community. The love of whittling that he passed down to me was a palpable connection to him and the wisdom that he represented.”

Somers smiles, “And so I was hooked. I whittled my way through school and college and into adulthood. Along the way, I discovered stone and honed my reductive process.”

Somers attended The Potomac School from the third through the ninth grade, and he credits Potomac’s emphasis on the arts with fueling his life’s direction. He recalls, “While some schools saw art and music as optional add-ons, Potomac honored the vital role that exposure to the arts plays in the student experience. Fine art, music, and theatrical endeavors were built in; they were essential components of our education.”

He recalls, “Mr. Hebeler was a great art teacher. He gave us the freedom to explore our creativity. I remember, for example, squeezing big tubes of acrylic paint between two boards and then mashing them together to see what the result would be. We had access to art supplies and the freedom to make and create.”

Upon graduating from Potomac at the end of ninth grade, Somers went on to complete his high school education at Phillips Exeter Academy. It was there that he first picked up hammer and chisel and tried his hand at sculpting in stone. He recalls, “At 16 I decided to be a sculptor. This was the way I would spend my life and make my living. I liked sculpture because I was in charge of the entire process. I got to decide the material, the shape, the finish, and how I would go about achieving my vision for each piece. In art, I was the boss of my world – a feeling that most young people long for. But even then I had no illusions about this path; I knew that it was going to be a long, long road to any kind of success or financial stability.”

As he traveled down that road, Somers’ next stop was Princeton University, where he majored in art history. Continuing to refine his artistic skills and beginning to sell his work, he later spent 12 years in California, then seven in Tennessee, where he explored his family heritage. Eventually, he settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he has lived and worked for the past 25 years.

Along the way, Somers encountered some detours, but none that pulled him entirely away from his passion for sculpting. He recounts a key life change: “In the early 1980s, I got sober. I went to a seemingly endless number of meetings. At first, as I sat there listening and thinking, I whittled on bits of wood. But the sound of my whittling was distracting to others, so I decided to switch from wood to soapstone, a softer material that

I could carve away at without making much noise. The shapes that you see in my work today emerged again and again, in different iterations, from these small pieces of soapstone.”

He continues, “Fast forward a couple of decades. I made molds from some of my soapstone carvings and cast the shapes in solid gold and sterling silver, turning them into jewelry. Originally, we produced only limited, hand-signed editions. But as the ‘Somers Jewelry’ line became more successful, we transitioned to unlimited editions, with my initials stamped into each piece.”

He recalls with a touch of pride, “Our designs were displayed at major jewelry shows and won awards. It was an exciting time and a way to monetize my art. But eventually I realized that this was not where I wanted to devote my energy. I was, and am, a sculptor. The pull to be carving full time was undeniable.”