Although Rolling Stone guitarist Keith Richards can't get any satisfaction, Comox Valley artist Robert Proulx hopes he can help Richards find some.
Proulx, a Comox Valley stone artist who specializes in creating custom fireplaces, stonework and furniture, is working on a tribute to the Stones rocker — made of course, completely out of stone.
"I've visualized it for years, but it took 10 years to figure it out," said Proulx about the 700-pound piece of rock, which he originally planned to use as a table.
"I had an art show in Bamberton, and had (the stone) hanging around. During an art show, someone put a cigarette in Keith's lip, and it was Keith," he added.
Proulx found the rock along with his other pieces that he uses for his fireplaces and tables in a secret riverbed location on Vancouver Island. He does not use any machines, rather logs, sticks, ropes and pulleys to remove the rocks from the creek.
Not only does the piece's form bear a striking resemblance to the guitarist, but Proulx wants to ensure the stone moves like the rocker. He has mounted the head on a metal rod that, when given a slight push, swings the stone head back and forth.
He admits "making Keith rock" was one of the biggest challenges.
"With a 700-pound piece, I had to figure out how to make him move in the air without falling over and killing someone," Proulx adds.
Eventually, he hopes to create a metal guitar neck on which the head will be mounted to bob back and forth, along with a drum kit and even a palm tree — a tribute to when Richards reportedly fell out of a palm tree on vacation in Fiji in 2006.
Proulx is aiming to complete the entire project by the end of the year, and hopes to catch the attention of Rolling Stone magazine.
"That's where it should be," he said, adding once he puts the finishing touches on the entire piece, he hopes to create a short video to catch the eye of editors.
Proulx is hoping the piece could propel his art to a wider audience, as two years ago he lost many sculptures, tools and photographs of previous work in a studio fire.
He is not against selling the completed piece, and has hopes that perhaps it will appeal to Richards himself or another celebrity.
"I could see Johnny Depp having this in his backyard," added Proulx.
For more information about his work, visit www.stonehunterstudio.com.
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