Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Le Duc.
Nathan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a woodworker and sculptor in the DMV that makes custom sculptural urns based on photos. My small family studio is the only studio in the country that carves a memorial relief into the side of an urn. While others use a laser machine to burn a shallow, pixelated image into the side of a mass produced vessel, we make each urn from scratch and carve the intricate, 3D reliefs ourselves. The resulting piece is completely one-of-a-kind and showcases a loved one in timeless sculpted detail.
Our family studio began with the shared desire to honor our grandfather’s family pet, Gretchen. We were disappointed with the urns we saw, and decided to combine our artistic passions to create a more fitting resting place. We ended up reintroducing classic relief sculpture to European style vase urns and are now helping others connect the same level of memorial art to personalized of stories their loved ones.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I broke a lot of urns and vases trying to figure out how to add carvings to the side of a curved surface. I had learned how to sculpt on a flat surface and moved up to anchored cubic blanks from there. The transition from flat to curved surfaces with very small margins of error ended up being way more difficult than it looked. The contours of the urns ended up catching my tools quite a bit in the beginning. My first attempts look like the result of an explosion.
I also started doing this with my dad just for friends and family so when we decided to start offering the service publicly we had no idea whether we could charge enough to pay ourselves even the minimum wage for the time it takes to sculpt each piece. As we sought advice, some funeral homes and cremation centers said it was a really cool product idea but the price point was just too high, even if it was justified by material cost and effort. Eventually we were able to find a way to connect with clients who were looking for something more personalized and were willing to support artisans to make that happen.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I started woodworking as a student at Oxford University mainly to relieve stress. I started learning some basic sculpting techniques from some of the artists there around finals week and got hooked, even if my first attempts were as bad as my sleep schedule.
When I got back to the states I wanted to get more into woodworking so I experimented with making pens and eventually things like bowls and vessels on the lathe until I got to the point where I was pushing my boundaries by doing more ambitious and complication forms.
When my grandpa’s dog died, I decided to try and make an urn for him that was more personalized. Initially, this meant a simple engraved face medallion, but as I continued to work on this “labor of love” project recruiting my dad and brother, we started getting more creative with our designs and eventually came up with the solid walnut and ash hardwood design that’s featured on our website. My grandpa was thrilled with the work and got excited about lathe work himself! He was one of the first people to really push us to offer this to others and move from an artistic pastime to more of a professional business.
How do you define success?
Art can be a form of both grief and healing. If our urns and sculptures help people feel connected to those they love and feel satisfied with how they have have honored them, then I would call that success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.montarbor.com
- Instagram: @mont_arbor
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Mont-Arbor/61577694965108/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Montarbor
