Lew French is a master stonemason who finds and gathers hundreds of individual stones to create a single fireplace or an outdoor stone wall that looks like it had been there for hundreds of years. Rather than use a chisel, his stones have to fit together naturally; he remembers and fits them together in his mind’s eye. From a huge outdoor water feature at an office building near Boston, to a residential landscape on Chappaquiddick, to his own retreat home in the mountains of Brazil, each creation is breathtaking.

New to this second book on Lew French’s designs are gallery-quality, framed art pieces, puzzled together from rock and driftwood, resulting in one-of-a-kind wall sculptures. Fans of natural building and all kinds of masonry will be more than impressed.

Lew French is the designer, architect, and builder of his work. He has spent over 30 years working on Martha’s Vineyard, Boston, in the Adirondacks, and other Northeastern locations. He has built his own home in Brazil. He was inducted into the New England Design Hall of Fame in 2015.

Alison Shaw is a fine art and editorial photographer who works and teaches on Martha’s Vineyard. Over 8,000 of her original fine art prints are in public and private collections. There are 19 books of her work so far, including a book she wrote about photographing Martha’s Vineyard.

BONUS: here’s the trailer for ‘The Power of Stone’, a documentary from Salt and Sugar Productions: https://vimeo.com/308211486

This program is a collaboration between the Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven Libraries.