Vermont Stone Carver Heather Milne Ritchie
- Heather Milne Ritchie
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Vermont stone carver Heather Milne Ritchie has written with frankness and humor about her studio sessions with the photographer Jack Rowell. Her essay was commissioned by Jack's publisher for a presentation called "Being Seen."
I had admired Jack's photographs for years before meeting him. I had even bought a print of his Fred Tuttle porn tv/hotel room as a gift for my then husband. I appreciated his sense of humor and farmer-focused salt-of-the-earth subjects. We met when my sculpture career was gaining traction with public commissions at the prompting of Sue Higby at SPA. It was a transitional period of time for me. Jack met me where I was at. He gave me a clean slate, a new friend and made me a little uncomfortable in a good way. We had fun banter, great conversations and he was a shameless flirt. I trusted him.
I brought some small stone sculptures to his studio and was so pleased and impressed by the way he translated my art into his image. Making my work look so elevated. Spending time with him and thinking all the while, this is a guy who knows his shit. We set up time for a portrait session. I had been meaning to do some portraits to use for professional marketing for awhile and went into this thinking that was the goal. Total truth: I tend to not photograph well. I get insanely awkward. I am insanely awkward. I think Jack knew this and set it up like a date.
We met at his studio. He had cooked me his special bbq chicken meal. We ate, talked and I sipped amaretto (my favorite liquor). The session was a lot of clicks and dress changes, his patience helped to ease my insecurity. Last dress, last shots of the session and it happened. He directed, I listened and we got some beautiful photographs. Not the portraits I had anticipated but something way beyond what I thought was even in me. I had never seen myself like that, strong and commanding. I had never seen my arms like that. Decades of stonework and my arms finally had their moment. All because of a safe, genuine connection, a place to be real and an earned trust. I had never felt more seen.
In our friendship over the years, Jack has always instigated the rebel in me. He just brings that naughty badass energy. He also brings mad respect. I feel like he really gets working artists, working people. He gets life, love, humor, darkness, magic, music, dirt and the true essence of people. Turning 40 I was trying to document that time, my beautiful I don’t give a shit era. I thought, foolishly because of societal norms, I wouldn't ever look that good again. I wanted to work with the raw material.
Going into that session I felt confident, comfortable and thankful for an honest and vulnerable friendship. Seeing my body as an instrument in life. As a mother, a woman, a worker and a maker. I think the only thing I had on were my workboots. I love being able to be myself with him. I appreciate Jack and his talent for showing us versions of ourselves easily denied by self perception. I value his friendship and heart. His portraits are so direct, so locked in, it’s hard for me to even know where to look. It's funny, ten years ago it was all about the nipple and now I just really love my hands.
Heather Milne Ritchie is a professional granite memorial carver, artist in many mediums and mother of two. An innovative sculptor, she brings a unique vision to the traditional stone art trade. She resides in her lifelong stomping ground of Central Vermont and works out of her granite carving studio in Barre. To view some of her work, visit her website: heathermilneritchie.com.
