The art of remembering: Sprague hand

SCITUATE – Tucked behind Karin Sprague’s stone house off Tourtellot Road in Scituate is a two-story barn housing her stone-carving studio where she hand-carves personal and intricate gravestones.

Sprague said gravestone carving comes with an intimate relationship to grieving families. She interviews people before she agrees to a consultation. During that consultation, she serves a light brunch and then speaks with family members about the stone’s design. Customers can choose the stone, shape, font, and special characters.

“We love going slow, hearing the stories, and taking our time with gravestones,” she said.

Four words open a line of communication that Sprague uses to draw the gravestone. Getting background matters, she said.

“Tell me about him or her,” she says.

Sprague said she leans into each person’s story, listens with compassion and empathy, and is kind. She said it is a slow process, and that is purposeful.

“The most important part is to just listen. When you lose someone, people really just want to talk about them, hear about them, and share stories of their life. It’s the remembering,” she said.

Sprague’s gravestones tell a story of a life and who the person was before they died.

“Every stone we’ve made is different from the previous. There is no catalogue you’re going to pick from. Every stone here is made to order,” she said.

In her mission statement, Sprague promises that her team of expert artisans uses their talents by listening compassionately, then designing and hand-carving memorials, fostering long-lasting relationships and sharing healing through the art of remembering.

Sprague shares her skills with artisans who are interested in working in stone. Her apprentice, Michael Brahce, said Sprague introduced him to a new world of art that he didn’t know existed. He works on smoothing out stones and lettering, and has watched her transform stones into meaningful pieces of art.

“I was struck by her process. She cares for and takes care of families. She listens. This work is so meaningful” Brahce said.

Sprague said her love of lettering pushed her toward carving, and she carved wood for 12 years before switching to stone. She said she knew two things: that she is creative and that she wanted to carve stone.

Before gravestone carving, Sprague said she would take walks in cemeteries to admire the lettering, ornate details, markings, and tool marks, “to see what inspires us, the careful details, the chip of a chisel,” she said.

Most of her clients are purchasing a gravestone for a loved one, but Sprague said some people plan to purchase their stone. One couple worked with Sprague to create a stone with a barn in the back with fictional farm characters that were lovingly created with their children while reading stories for bedtime.

“Some people spend their life loving art and spend their life collecting art. This may be the last piece of art they buy,” she said.

Sprague said COVID made many people face the reality of death and the fragility of life. Gravestones, she said, are a remembrance of life and death. She added that people are more aware of death and are changing its rituals.

“What we’re doing here is very similar to how it was done 200 years ago,” she said.

Sprague originally met David Klinger, a stone carver who gave her a lesson before assigning a full gravestone. In her first class, she chose to carve “GOD” in all-capitals in stone. She said she loves the feeling of piercing stone.

“He said that’s quite the first client,” Sprague said.

Things changed for Sprague when in 1996 her father-in-law died. She said she immediately knew she wanted to carve a slate gravestone for him, and her mother-in-law agreed. Inspired by 18th-century stones, Sprague included family genealogy on the stone in a historic font.

“It took a year and a half to two years to finish,” she said.

That first stone began decades of gravestone carving, she said. A reporter at The Providence Journal interviewed Sprague while she worked on her father-in-law’s gravestone in a garden shed. From that article, she received four more commissions.

Today, Sprague said, she has sent stones to many states and around the world.

“I knew this was it for me. I put my love for him into the stone,” Sprague said.

She said once she finished his stone, she knew she had found her calling.

Sprague also carves other memorial items, such as benches and monuments. She said she partners with a stone fabricator who will cut the pieces to the general shape, and Sprague and her carvers add in the details.

For shared gravestones, Sprague said the stone will be installed in the cemetery when one partner dies, and the additional death dates will be added on site.

Karin Sprague Stone Carvers work typically takes up to 18 months to complete. For more information, visit www.karinsprague.com or call 401-934-3105.

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