Seasonal Stakeout
Chuck Eblacker’s ongoing “Thesis in Stone”
ABOVE: A retaining wall that morphs into a circular enclave with a “moongate” entrance 14 | july-august 2009
by Michelle Buckstrup
E
blacker & Stone is Chuck Eblacker, working with friction and gravity to create dry stone walls that can last 100 years with minimal need of repair. Eblacker’s days are spent creating one-of-a-kind dry stone walls, arches, pillars, and thought-provoking installations, using an oldworld approach in a fast-paced world. It was 2002 when Eblacker decided to follow his passion for stone and work alone. At the end of his first year, he had a lot of questions. Was he doing it right, building with the integrity he
sought? Could he make a living at doing his craft alone? Eblacker’s former colleagues were often skeptical. They insisted he needed a crew and a certain level of output and convention. Eblacker had read In the Company of Stone by internationally renowned dry stone waller and artist Dan Snow, who primarily works alone. He got Snow’s number from 411 and made a call that proved to be pivotal. “It’d be like a golfer calling Tiger Woods,” Eblacker says, “or a gardener calling up Tasha Tudor.”