John Benson: A Man of Historic Talents
Natalia Minasi
Issue date: 5/10/09 Section: News
"Then all you do is take a chisel and chop it out."
Those are the simple directions John Everett Benson, previous owner of The John Stevens Shop, gives to stone carving after the lettering is designed and traced and painted onto the stone. A person may think he or she is about to color in the lines of a child's coloring book- that's how nonchalantly and effortlessly Benson makes stone cutting to be. Of course, not everyone has the talent, credibility, training, experience or good genes of the Benson family.
If you make a quick turn off of Newport's Elm Street onto Cross, a standard weathered garage with grey siding and forest green trim will catch your eye. The building is simple and traditional, but its colonial-like appearance dominates the street. Inside the garage-turned-studio, the smell of art and creativity color the walls while original sculptures adorn the studio's main floor workshop.
John 'Fud' Benson, a man of many artistic talents, leads a visitor through his studio, stopping to heat up his coffee in the microwave before heading next door to The John Stevens Shop. "It's awfully cold in there," Benson said. About 10 steps outside Benson's studio, there is a door that will transport any visitor back to the 1700's when the shop first opened. The shop is cold and airy. The colonial Williamsburg atmosphere, classic tools and pulleys and rustic workshop appearance contrasts with the present times. The smell of wood, paper, and stone engulf you as you walk through the shop, passing gravestones and a granite sign in the process of being carved. John Benson stops at a large drawing table where his son Nick, currently out to lunch with his worker, is sketching daffodils for a gravestone he is carving. Sitting on a high stool you can look around the shop and take in the walls adorned with shelves filled to capacity with vintage books and parchments alongside slates of stone, tools, chisels, hammers, and carvings.
A tall, slender, fit man with grey hair, a moustache and a unique assortment of artistic talents, John Everett Benson, adjusts his glasses as he begins to talk about his past, his talents, and what it's like to be a part of a long line of tradition and artistic ability.
Those are the simple directions John Everett Benson, previous owner of The John Stevens Shop, gives to stone carving after the lettering is designed and traced and painted onto the stone. A person may think he or she is about to color in the lines of a child's coloring book- that's how nonchalantly and effortlessly Benson makes stone cutting to be. Of course, not everyone has the talent, credibility, training, experience or good genes of the Benson family.
If you make a quick turn off of Newport's Elm Street onto Cross, a standard weathered garage with grey siding and forest green trim will catch your eye. The building is simple and traditional, but its colonial-like appearance dominates the street. Inside the garage-turned-studio, the smell of art and creativity color the walls while original sculptures adorn the studio's main floor workshop.
John 'Fud' Benson, a man of many artistic talents, leads a visitor through his studio, stopping to heat up his coffee in the microwave before heading next door to The John Stevens Shop. "It's awfully cold in there," Benson said. About 10 steps outside Benson's studio, there is a door that will transport any visitor back to the 1700's when the shop first opened. The shop is cold and airy. The colonial Williamsburg atmosphere, classic tools and pulleys and rustic workshop appearance contrasts with the present times. The smell of wood, paper, and stone engulf you as you walk through the shop, passing gravestones and a granite sign in the process of being carved. John Benson stops at a large drawing table where his son Nick, currently out to lunch with his worker, is sketching daffodils for a gravestone he is carving. Sitting on a high stool you can look around the shop and take in the walls adorned with shelves filled to capacity with vintage books and parchments alongside slates of stone, tools, chisels, hammers, and carvings.
A tall, slender, fit man with grey hair, a moustache and a unique assortment of artistic talents, John Everett Benson, adjusts his glasses as he begins to talk about his past, his talents, and what it's like to be a part of a long line of tradition and artistic ability.
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