SLIDE SHOW: Stone By Design: The Artistry of Lew French

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  This small dining room hearth took more than 2 months to complete. The fireplace's antique wooden frame separates the black slate stone from the white wooden walls

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  The slate used for the majority of this fireplace came from a quarry in northern Maine. The small chips are leftover from the making of schoolroom blackboards

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  Architect Bruce MacNelly designed this distinguished seaside home. He and French collaborated on the design of the main living room's fireplace made from freshly quarried granite

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  The face of this fireplace is curved, so that no matter which angle of the room you look from, you look directly at the stones

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  French walked the beach for more than 3 miles to find this mantel, which has the same curve as that of the face of the fireplace

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  A series of stepped mantels break the plane of the face of this large fieldstone fireplace

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  Weathered, split granite and fieldstone -- gathered and brought down from Maine -- anchor the gable end of a handcrafted oak timberframe house

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  To get the rectilinear look from the fieldstone that is inside this fireplace's granite frame, French sorted through more than one hundred tons of stone, selecting each one for shape, size, and weathering

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  Combining a wide range of stones and driftwood created an intense variety of patterns in this large fireplace that took five months to complete

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  Three different types of stone converge at the corner of this hearth's firebox

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  Antique split-granite posts create a frame for an inset of smaller native fieldstones collected from a grassy pasture field.

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  By indenting accent stones in the lower two-thirds of the fireplace, French created a different texture than the flat surface of the top right-hand corner, adding a subtle distinction to the overall look of New York shale

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  French's client, an artist, worked with him to design this fireplace. They let the focus be on the three stones that frame the firebox

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  The rounded, warm-toned stones used for the suite at Captain Flanders Inn (aka Bliss Pond Farm) on Martha's Vineyard. The stones were collected from pastures and fields on the surrounding farmland

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  Large quarried pieces of weathered granite were found in an abandoned quarry in Maine. When used with flat fieldstones, they form a sidewalk with a gentle curve

  

• Photo/Art by Alison Shaw

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  One of three interesting and beautiful accent stones featured in the garden space. The hole that you see in the stone is natural and was created by moving water over the course of untold years

  

Enjoy the beauty of Lew French’s inspired fireplace stonework in this slide show from his book, Stone by Design: The Artistry of Lew French, as seen through the lens of fine art photographer Alison Shaw.

You can see more of Alison’s work at alisonshaw.com or puchase signed copies of the book and see additional images of French’s stonework — including his creations in the garden landscape — at alisonshaw.com/bk_stone.shtml

• Hover over photo and click on arrow to advance the slideshow.