Stone Sculptor · Tumwater, Washington
LeeAnn
Seaburg
Perry
"I always see a human form captured in the stone. My first cuts release the head. The lines of the body follow."
Stone Sculptor · Tumwater, Washington
"I always see a human form captured in the stone. My first cuts release the head. The lines of the body follow."
The Collection
For LeeAnn Seaburg Perry, carving stone is like reading the best book of all time — she can barely put it down. Each piece begins with a stone and an inspiration. The joy of discovering what lies within motivates every cut.
The Artist
LeeAnn Seaburg Perry has known she would be an artist since age nine. Over more than three decades, her work has centered on one abiding conviction: the human figure is already inside the stone, waiting.
She earned her MFA in Sculpture from Pratt Institute in New York, and has made personal pilgrimages to Vermont's Danby marble quarry — riding into the mine to hand-select stones she feels contain a figure. Two tons of Vermont Imperial Marble have made the journey to her Tumwater studio, exposed to light for the first time in 600 million years.
Her work is held in private collections across the United States and in many countries abroad — including the collection of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Full BiographyThe Work
Each piece begins with raw, uncut stone that LeeAnn studies from all angles until the stone inspires her. She works entirely by hand — carving alabaster, marble, and soapstone to reveal the figures she discovers within.
Every sculpture is a one-of-a-kind original. No reproductions are made. Contact LeeAnn to inquire about available works.
The Process
LeeAnn carves using the classical hand-tool method — chisel, hammer, rasps, and a small grinding wheel. Six progressively finer grits of diamond sandpaper, worked with water, bring each piece to its final luminosity.
When complete, she designs and commissions a custom wood base for each piece. Most bases include a turntable — allowing you to rotate the sculpture with just a touch of your finger.
The Materials
LeeAnn works across the geological spectrum: Vermont Imperial Marble, Yule Colorado Marble, Washington and Vermont Soapstone, Utah Alabaster, Pacific Northwest Sandstone, and regional Limestone. Each stone has its own character — marble glows with inner warmth, alabaster's translucency lights a figure from within, soapstone demands a slow and meditative hand.
