Hunt Studios produces fine, custom handcrafted architectural sculptures in stone, metals and cast materials throughout the United States. .
We have built up a reputation through unique, high quality carving commissions for over twenty years. Using individual creative design and craftsmanship you can trust us to produce your sculptures, columns, capitals, arches, fireplaces, restoration, conservation and other work on time and within budget.
Our experience of ornamental carving in the classical tradition, borrowing from the architectural styles of antiquity means that together we will create an artistic legacy lasting hundreds of years. We are equally at home creating contemporary sculpture to complement your residence, business or public building.
The expert Hunt Studios team is led by Nathan Hunt, a European artisan and master carver who appreciates the need for client satisfaction. We have workshops in both San Francisco and Los Angeles, California and can offer on-site stone carving almost anywhere worldwide.
Our Team:
Nathan Hunt, the proprietor of Hunt Studios, is a European artisan, master carver and accomplished architectural sculptor with over 18 years of experience specializing in hand carved stone and ornamental modeling. Hunt found the art of stone carving at the young age of 15 when he first apprenticed in the traditional craft in various churches, public buildings and stately homes throughout England. During his apprenticeship, he learned restoration and conservation skills he then applied to projects, which include: the Princess Diana Memorial, Westminster Abbey, Exeter Cathedral, Crosby Hall, the Royal Opera House, Drumlanrig Castle, and Yorkminster Cathedral. His passion for sculpture, as well as his firsthand experience of the world's art and architecture while traveling throughout Europe, Africa and North America, serve as inspiration for his business. It is this combination of craftsmanship rooted in European tradition and knowledge of formal architectural and art world history that gives him the ability to design ornament in period styles that look authentic. Since establishing Hunt Studios, Nathan Hunt has carved out a specialized niche for his business, working for some of the most successful American entrepreneurs on high-end residential projects.
Matthew Vigeland is an Illustrator, Printmaker, and Graphic Artist with over 17 years of experience applying those skills across multiple industries and the Fine Arts. A maven of the arts, Matthew possesses a unique blend of conceptual innovation, refined aesthetic sensibility, and informed artisanry. His addition to Hunt Studios provides a contemporary perspective tempered with old-world class. His works appear in galleries, print, and private collections.
Roque Santillan, originally from Pachuca in southern Mexico apprenticed at Hunt Studios in the art of architectural stone carving. he works to a very high standard and adapts well to learning new skills. Roque is a great asset to the workshop.
Andrian Melka, Widely considered to be in the upper echelons of his craft, Andrian teams up with Hunt Studios on projects that demand an artist of his unique caliber. He first studied art and sculpture at the age of ten, graduating from the Academy of Fine Arts in Tirana, Albania in 1994. He then spent years copying antique heads and reliefs in a reputed marble workshop in Tirana. In 1997, he moved to the U.K. and began working at the renowned architectural carving workshop of Dick Reid in York, where he met Nathan Hunt. Since then, Andrian has gone on to complete many truly magnificent sculptures for prestigious clients in the U.K and the U.S., including Battle of the Centaurs - Lord Rothschild, Laocoon 1999 - HRH The Prince of Wales, Neptune 2005 - Lord Conrad Black, Figures of Christ and Madonna - St Mungos Church, Glasgow, and numerous other private commissions.
Ilaman Sabirov has been a great asset to Hunt Studios in the few years he has been with us. With his depth of knowledge of sculpture, casting methods and stone carving he has completed many projects of varying scales in a multitude of materials. Ilaman is a well known sculptor in his home country of Turkmenistan and came the U.S. for an artist-in-residence program at San Francisco State University. Ilaman's form and finishing skills are exceptional and show the skill of a true sculptor.
Stephen Michael Bouska: A native of California, Stephen started his path as a craftsman in the marble masonry shops of the sacramento valley in 2001. Always searching for further knowledge of the building arts he found apprenticeships as a granite mason, letter cutter, restoration mason, and stone carver. Both an operative and speculative mason of the F&AM, Stephen's travels have taken him across the state of California working on such projects as the Santa Barbara courthouse fountain,restoration at the presidio of San Francisco, and restoration at Stanford university. Furthermore, to satisfy the age old tradition of traveling once reaching a journeyman status, Stephen traveled and lived in Australia two years, cutting and carving on st. Joseph's cathedral in rockhampton, st. Mary's cathedral in Ipswich, and Parliament House Brisbane. Stephen currently practices the building arts at hunt studios San Francisco location and is studying sculpture at the Academy of Art University with an expected graduation date of 2016 with a BFA. His mission statement: "I strive to make our world a more beautiful place.
