Name: Fairplay Stonecarvers LLC

Contact info: Nicholas Fairplay and Elizabeth M. Meadows, Fairplay Stonecarvers LLC, Oberlin, (440) 775-7878

Website: www.fairplaystonecarvers.com

Year started: Business started in 1997 in San Francisco, CA and relocated to Oberlin in 1998.

COSE Member since: 1998

Type of work: Fairplay Stonecarvers LLC designs, sculpts and carves high-end architectural ornament using primarily limestone, sandstone and marble by commission. They also provide stone consulting, restoration and conservation services. Currently, they are carving four 11 foot-long lions for the Utah state capitol building restoration project.

Benefits of membership: Low-cost health insurance, networking opportunities and business management advice.

About: Every custom job is like starting a new business. The materials have to be purchased from different quarries or distributors all over the world. The tools that are specific to the material may have to be custom made or purchased from Europe. All of these things must be accounted for in each estimate.

Connect: Fairplay Stonecarvers work with architects, designers, artists, organizations, colleges and private homeowners. Their role may be as the artist or as the artisan who has knowledge specific to the materials that they work with when working with a client. A sculptor may design a model that they are commissioned to copy, but a stone carver will be able to translate that model into the material without any loss in the structural integrity of the piece. Fairplay Stonecarvers provide artistic skill as a service.

Advice: Communication is key to a successful relationship with a client. Estimates need to be precise including design, models, material costs, approximate timeframes, labor and a payment schedule. Many businesses do not take artists seriously; however, artists don't take a client seriously if they are not paid for the services they have provided. An artist should take the time to write a contract, or have their lawyer write a contract for them before any work is done for a client.

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