Song Of The Amazon

“I love stone – locked in the earth for millions of years, each one has it own story to tell. I feel privileged to be able to release that story and let it be told.”
Kathi Bond

Kathi is a BC stone sculptor, working in Alabaster, Soapstone, Marble, Brucite, Chlorite, Pyrophyllite and Granite.

From the first moment she was introduced to stone carving twenty years ago, she felt a connection to, and passion for stone. Kathi began her carving education at a Soapstone Carving workshop, followed by Alabaster carving courses at the Art Academy of Vancouver and now continues her education at various stone carving symposia, including the West Coast Sculpture Association (WCSA) symposia on Vancouver Island, the Northwest Stone Sculptors’ Association (NWSSA) symposia in Washington State and Vancouver Spring with renowned sculptors, George Pratt and Michael Binkley.

Kathi loves the vast spectrum of mineral content found in stones, which produces a variety of colours, bringing life to her work. The texture and tactile aspects of the medium guide her in letting the finished sculpture, be it animal or human (or neither), emerge from the stone, appearing in motion.
Her passion is the wildlife genre, in particular bears, whales, and starfish, but her real voice sings at its best with frogs. No artist has focused on this topic like Kathi. She has sold more stone frog sculptures than any other artist.

Her interest in frogs began years ago with trips to the local aquarium, where her friend, Dr. Taran Grant (now a world renowned Herpetologist) would take her on behind the scenes tours of the wonderful world of these fascinating amphibians. Eventually his enthusiasm for the shape, anatomy & lines, along with a never ending supply of photos of the world’s most interesting frogs in their natural habitat, inspired Kathi to carve frogs.

She is not an eco warrior, but when Dr. Grant said he believed if the frog survives mankind will survive, she got inspired to focus on frogs and make the world see their beauty and contribution to our future.

Her pieces are displayed in a number of fine art galleries. Kathi’s sculptures can be found in the Avenue Gallery in Oak Bay, Victoria, Gallery 421 in Kelowna and the Chrystal Lodge Gallery in Whistler, B.C. . She is also represented by Gainsborough Galleries in Calgary, Alberta and in by Towne Square Gallery in Oakville, Ontario. In addition to gallery representation she exhibits with the Sculptors’ Society of BC and has done work for numerous corporate and private collectors.

Always eager to mentor and encourage a new generation of stone carvers, she teaches Soapstone carving at local schools and community centres. She is a past President of the West Coast Sculpture Association, and an active member of the Sculptors’ Society of B.C.

Kathi was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and studied French at McMaster University. After mastering four languages, she is happiest letting the stone speak to her to do her most creative work!