"Work in Progress" Soapstone Heart

ABOUT VENTURE IMPORTS

When you hold one of these beautiful soapstone items in your hand, imagine the numerous hands that held it before you. Picture the machete swinging from the arm of the incredibly precise artisan who carved the piece out of a hunk of rock! Then picture that rugged piece sanded repeatedly under water by women chatting to each other while looking out on the green hills of Kenya. When it's completely smooth to the touch, it is painted and etched using only simple hand-tools. Finally it is polished before making its way across the ocean for you to enjoy.

CREATING BEAUTY FROM STONE

Soapstone items are made by a cooperative on the south-western side of Kenya. Their workshop is partly outdoors overlooking the beautiful green hills. After mining and hauling the stone to the workshop, the carvers saw the stone into smaller pieces. They hack the rock into the shape of the piece it is to become using machetes. Then they chisel more definition into the pieces using chisels and other simple hand tools. 

Once they have achieved the rough shape of the item, they pass it along to the sanders. They wet sand the piece until it is perfectly smooth to the touch. After the pieces dry in the sun, artisans paint and etch the soapstone into their final creations.

CREATING A BETTER LIFE

Venture Imports is a fair trade company that works primarily with women in Kenya with a goal of ensuring that every person who works on our products is able to send their children to school. In addition, their artisan partners are building houses and buying land and animals with the money they earn from making Venture Imports pieces. This means they are multiplying their income through new streams of revenue and creating generational change for their children.