The pattern we used to build the walls in Clayton New York last weekend was loosely based on something I'd seen when I was in Mallorca at a Stone Symposium held back in 2007.
It involves arranging the stones in a diamond grid. Be they trapezoids, parallelograms or even squares, they are all laid into the wall so that their faces are on the diagonal.
I was pleased with how well our group caught on to the technique and achieved such good fits, arranging the stones more like one would stack firewood rather than how you would lay blocks in a static horizontal grid.
The crew worked merrily through two days of rain to produce an impressive dry stone seating wall for the newly developed Otter Creek Preserve where trails and lookout towers and bridges are being built to help visitors discover and enjoy the many acres of natural habitat there.
Blocky stones laid on the diagonal have a lot more grip. With time they even fit tighter. The walls are bookended with chunky immovable columns built in the conventional style to hold any diagonal pressure.
Thanks to the 1000 Islands Art Centre and the Thousand Island Land Trust for sponsoring this event.
