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Thursday, July 8, 2010
Shortage of Soapstone
One thing I rarely have to worry about is lack of art supplies. They abound in all the art shops around me. If anything, my biggest problem can be in the number of choices I experience.
The same cannot be said four our Inuit soapstone carvers. A 2006 CBC report tells of the exploding popularity of Inuit art, an increased demand for soapstone, and a dwindling supply source.
Supplies in Iqaluit are brought in by ship from a quarry on Cape Dorset. Interesting. And, here I thought that Inuit artists just walked along a beach and picked up stone and carried it home. See here.
An Eastern Township, Quebec, newspaper reports that 35 tons of soapstone - also known as steatite, was shipped north from the Baker Talc Mine to the arctic. Soapstone is soft because of its high content of talc. Please click here.
Soapstone has also been sought after for such things as kitchen counters, and garden slabs.
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