It began with notebook drawings during lunch breaks from landscaping jobs until one day Devin Devine put down his lightweight pencil and picked up heavy rocks and stones to enter a whole new world of artistic expression.

Now the owner of Devine Escapes located in Blakeslee, his portfolio includes everything from functional stone pathways and fireplace walls to birdhouses and even an igloo carved out of ice that stands in his backyard.

Self-taught from books that he studied about “hardscaping” in the late 1990s to the early 2000s, Devine decided to open his business in 2007.

“I still do the functional stonework to help pay the bills,” he said.

Observing nature

Devine’s imagination never sleeps. Many of the ideas for his creations come from observing natural surroundings. He’s a man of the Earth creating art from the Earth.

He describes himself as a dry-stone mason.

“I use mortar to seal the joints when necessary, but I prefer to join my material together without sealing the cracks so the finished product is in a natural and pure state,” he said.

Speaking of his material, Devine is always on the lookout for large and small stones. He explores older buildings that have decayed and are not habitable. He travels to rock quarries and excavation sites, and then he collects the ordinary to create the extraordinary. The work is physical and exhausting at times takes and its toll on his body.

“When I was in my 30s, I thought nothing of lifting and carrying slabs of stones until my back started to give me problems,” he explained, “so now I work smarter and I take my time.”

He has built his projects on designated sites, and smaller projects he creates at home. Large and heavier ones requires he uses a forklift to transport a finished creation to a customer’s home site.

Devine builds stone vases, natural stone benches, dry stone spheres and boulder birdhouses. He also constructs dry stone patios, stone walls and mosaic walkways. He takes customers’ suggestions and creates their sculptures from original designs.

Teaching his craft

When he’s not building stonework with his hands, Devine conducts consultations and workshops by request to teach interested parties his craft.

“I have a decent 20 year portfolio,” he said. “I like to pass along what I know to the DIYers. Last May I held a workshop in Jim Thorpe where I had built a 10-foot-tall chamber from stone behind the Opera House.”

His expertise with flagstone has been cited in several how to articles and Q&A blogs.

“I was recently asked what tools I use to cut flagstone,” Devine said. “I replied that I prefer to cut stone using a hammer when I can, but if the cut is a very large piece, I’ll use a saw or a grinder.”

Working, enjoying

Devine was recently asked to visit a site in Brooklyn, New York, to repair some shoddy work done by another contractor who refused to return to make repairs.

“There was a lot to fix,” he said. “In less than a year, the mortar was separating from the flagstone and you could hear a hollow sound when I tapped it with a mallet. Not everybody takes pride in what they do, so I made the necessary repairs.”

He does things for fun, too, like building an igloo in his yard that is colorized with food dye.

I like to go in there with a cup of coffee,” he said with a laugh, “and with this cold weather, I think my igloo will be here for a while.”

Being creative

Asked why he enjoys stone art, Devine said that it goes back to when he was a teenager.

“I just like to use my imagination,” he said.

“Back then I was writing songs and doing drawings. Now I find my satisfaction in the challenges that come from working with dry stonework.”

He then added, “Obviously, what I make will be around for many years, and that will be my legacy after I’m gone.”

Devine pays close attention to details. Each stone is hand selected, worked and set “by a confident hand and an artist’s eye,” according to his website.

Every artist chooses a unique medium to express his emotion and his imagination. Devin Devine selects stones to build what his mind’s eye sees

Not only does this rock star create art from hard, inert and often matter that is serving no purpose, he leaves his customers a beautiful representation of Mother Nature’s landscape that will last forever.

Devine can be reached at www.devineescapes.com.