Monuments And Markers
Throughout history, stone has been the principal material of monumental sculpture. The colours and textures of stone are among its more delightful qualities. Though marble and limestone have been used in the past for creating monuments, granite is the preferred stone. It has proved itself to be the most durable for the temperature extremes of our Canadian climate.
The colouring of granite is not uniform but has a salt-and-pepper quality and may glint with mica and quartz crystals. It may be predominantly black or white or a variety of grays, pinks and red. Most granites are designed for ornamental uses like granite counter tops, building facia and statuary. Few granites have the consistent colouring and texture preferred for monument design. The following are samples of monument quality, fine-grained granites to indicate their strengths and weakness for use.
This has a uniform light grey colour that remains the same as the stone is cut. Designs are carved into the granite and then highlighted with deeply cut outlines. This creates detailed, well-defined design elements without the use of paint. Lettering is also highlighted by the shadowing created with deep sand-blasting.
This fine grained, rose coloured granite can be personalized with shape carved designs and deep sand-blast lettering. Our designs are carved into the granite without the use of paint to assure the design you see today will be the design you see tomorrow.
Putting a shine on the granite by polishing gives a gem-stone like appearance that darkens its surface. This shine can be removed to create a two-toned effect to highlight the design and place a panel around the lettering.
This fine-grained, dark coloured granite originates in Pennsylvania. It has a fine greyish swirl through the darker coloured background which makes for a very attractive granite that does not interfere with either clarity or legibility.
This is one of the more popular granites because of its dark consistent colour and high contrast. It is the least expensive granite suitable for etched designs.
Quarried in the Canadian Laurentians, this versatile granite is suitable for all forms engraving techniques.
This high quality red stone originates in India, and is renowned for its majestic colouring.
This is one of the purest black granites available. It is the preferred granite for exquisite etchings that produce a quality black and white rendering from a photograph without the use of paint.
