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The Gargoyle Newsletter will be published occasionally, with news, updates, tips, hints, links and answers to selected questions from our readers. (Send in some good questions!)

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Welcome to the inaugural copy of the Gargoyle Newsletter. I hope you find this interesting and enjoyable. I'll include questions from visitors to my site, together with my answers. There will be news on my latest work, and a mix of stories, gargoyle notes, and selected links. Suggestions and comments are always welcome.

If you're in the United States and get Cable TV, you can watch me on station HGTV. I'll be appearing on the show Dream Builders on Dec 8, 2000 at 6:00pm EST, Dec 10, 2000, 7:30pm EST and Dec 10, 2000, 2:30am EST. Check your local listings. They spent three days shooting in my studio. They also visited some of my clients and some installed projects.

Question: When did you begin stone sculpting?

Answer: I was quite young; there was a lot of demolition of old buildings going on in my neighborhood when I was growing up, so at the age of 12 I started dragging home pieces of limestone from those buildings and figuring out how to carve them. It wasn't easy finding tools, and I made a mess of my parents' basement. I carved a number of portrait busts of family and friends through my teenage years (severely trying their patience). When I was 20 I went to Italy, where I apprenticed with master marble carvers for several years. I then worked for five years under Vincent Palumbo at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. He comes from an Italian family that has produced carvers for five generations.

Latest work: I just finished a 500 pound limestone lion. You can see this lion on my latest work page. It sits in front of a home in Cicero, Illinois, and is a replacement for a 75-year-old lion that was stolen last year. This lion is the mate for an existing lion on the other side of the steps. I measured and worked from the other lion to match the dimensions and style. The thieves came back and also tried to get the other lion, and even dragged it half way off its base before they were scared off by the owner. I remounted the old lion as well as the new one very solidly and securely- I'm hoping this time they last more than 75 years!

Gargoyles in Medieval New York: Here's a neat page that was put together a few years ago by two students at Fordham University in New York. It gives a basic outline of the history of medieval gargoyles and some of the myths and legends surrounding them, as well as some photos of New York gargoyles. They were even kind enough to link to my original web site at the bottom of the page, although the link is entitled "More NY Gargoyles". I guess New Yorkers just couldn't believe that someone who carves gargoyles would choose to live in Chicago instead of New York! :)

I'm working on a new set of winter gargoyle e-postcards, with a special Java snow effect. Watch for them in early December!