Other Rock Balancers

Truly a seminal figure amongst San Francisco's balancing community, Barry Chukerman (also known as Rockman) has often taken risks for art. Whether thigh-high in a rising tide or swiming through breakers carrying materials for a "Stone Poem" on an off-shore rock, his adventures, creations, and mishaps are chronicled on his webspace. As he explains there, "The entire process is completely earth-friendly, and I intend to keep it that way."

The name of Ron Divino comes up repeatedly whenever rock balancing is discussed in the Bay Area. His individual blend of deep spirituality and sincere friendliness is exemplified by his comment on MrSF.com that, "No matter what's going on, Mother Nature provides us with this beautiful world"; a beauty he contributed to with his playful and exuberant art, and with his optimism despite personal misfortune. He is quoted further on a Reflections page.

Daryl Maddeaux has been balancing rocks since 1989, from Canada to Mexico, from beaches to the Calgary Stampede. His skill revealed in a gallery of Christopher Murphy's photos courtesy Southern California rock balancer David Darrow (see next page) is as clear as his reported philosophy. He was a featured artist at the Canada National Exhibit in Toronto, in late August 2005, as shown in this set of photos by Elson T. Elizaga.

California's Jim Needham, "The Rockstacker™", has been stacking stones and making a living from it since 1995. He has a public "Gravity Garden" on Highway One in Carmel which is open to all. He has recently begun to update his website, and it's worth a long visit for its vision and humor, as well as consumate technique. Self-made Giclée prints are available of many of his pieces. Jim has shown his naturally balanced stone stacks alongside Dale Chihuly's glass towers at Klein Art Works in Chicago, and has contributed a Reflection to this site. Further descriptions of his work and one of his short videos are the subject of "One With The Stone", a page on this site devoted to him and his art.

Stephen Langton Goulet, The Rockatier, makes his art along BC Hiway 17 on Vancouver Island, and in museums and other artistic venues. His website also includes guest balancers as well as deep philosophy. His interests in balance extend to the elegance of fundamental mathematics and wastewater treatment.

Art Ludwig's Oasis Design website not only has some stunning photos of his balanced rocks, but hundreds of pages of information on ecological systems design. The "nature of balance" carries over into the "balance of nature", apparently.