TELEPHONE:
ADDRESS:
Carretera del Lomo nº45 – 35400 Arucas – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
ACTIVITY
As a stone-carving expert, Adolfo Armas is a master in the various techniques of stonework. He set up his first workshop in 1996 in Arucas (Gran Canaria). He has participated in island and municipal fairs and his work has appeared in various competitions, as well… as being on display in his workshop.
Adolfo uses age-old techniques albeit with certain innovations. Some of his tools were inherited from his grandfather and others he has made himself. With appropriate know-how, he says, applying new techniques in artisanal work can help one progress more quickly and effectively, but patience, constancy and hard work are also required in plying this trade.
He does a wide range of work, from sourcing rough stones directly from the quarry and gradually shaping them into a coat of arms, a carved bench in Canary Island style or a sculpture, to restoring a 300-year-old dwelling previously coated with grime and paint
TRAINING
Adolfo Armas began learning the stone-carver’s trade in 1994 with other carvers at the local quarry, and continued learning at a stonemasonry trade school.
Though he has wide experience in the sphere of stonework, he is always in search of new knowledge: how the old stonemasons… worked in other locations, the geological formation of rocks, the minerals they contain, etc.
TEACHING
In 2016 he delivered a course in Telde on laying natural stone, subsidised by the Canarian employment service, leading to the award of certificates of professional competence. The course involved teaching 24 participants stone-working techniques, the building of masonry walls, etc.
SELECTED WORK
– Hand-carved plaque for the Castle of La Luz, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
– Hand-carving of the stone arch of Arucas (Gran Canaria)
– Restoration work in Plaza de Santa Ana in Las Palmas
– Restoration of stonework in various houses within the historic centre of Arucas… (Gran Canaria)
