Sculptor, San Francisco
While picking up building supplies in the industrial zone of San Francisco in 2013, I spotted some large stone relics propped up outside of a workshop entrance. I wandered over for a closer look and was lured through the bay doors into a cavernous studio filled with Mayan artifacts, Roman statues, architectural columns, arches, fountains and more. I was mesmerized. Then I spotted Manuel Palos, sitting alone at a table in back, modeling a new figure in clay. I asked him “did you make all these things?” “Oh yeah, I’ve been doing this for decades.” Can you teach me, I asked. “Sure, come back on Saturday.” And so I did and soon realized I loved working by hand, imagining something from natural stone. Jumping forward a few years later, I decided carving only one day a week wasn’t enough so I walked away from my design career at Apple and dedicated myself to the stone carver’s art.
