Art & Holiday: Sculpture courses on Crete

If you want to try something special on your next holiday in Crete and take home a unique souvenir, then stop by Sabine Rassow in Lagolio.

As a stone sculptor, she mainly works with marble and alabaster. She mainly creates her sculptures by hand, the forms are sensual, and harmonious and radiate a lot of power. Of course, you can buy sculptures from her or have them made, but how about creating a small work of art yourself?

In the small village of Lagolio in the south of Crete, she offers holiday workshops in front of a magnificent scenic backdrop for everyone who wants to spend their holiday creatively.

The stone carving course by Sabine Rassow (freelance sculptor) is really something special. We booked a 3-day course and actually managed to carve a small bowl out of a block of marble.

On the first day, Sabine welcomed us in the courtyard of her house in Lagolio, gave us a short briefing, and then started selecting the right block of marble for each of us. She had the marble delivered from Italy, which reminds us of the Renaissance sculptor schools.

Under Sabine’s guidance we collect our tools and off we go to the stone carving. Soft to medium-hard rocks such as alabaster, marble, and limestone are ideal for working with a chisel and mallet. It was a bit unfamiliar at first, but once we learned the technique a bit, it was really fun. The highlight is not to use any force, but simply to let the mallet fall out onto the chisel on your arm.

On the first day we completely freed the marble from the outer layer, cleaned it, and then cleaned it with the hollow of the bowl. In the afternoon our arms were tired, but the result was impressive. On the second day, the hollow was deepened and then we worked on the parts of the marble with different types of sandpaper and water until on the third day our bowls were ready.

Yes, it’s exhausting, but it’s great!
Definitely a great experience and the bowl was a nice memory.