As he retires, Lane Tompkins leaves a legacy carved in stone

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, June 2, 2026

By PATRICIA GUTHRIE

Special to The Record

If only Lane Tompkins’ heart were made of stone and his back cast in bronze, he’d be able to keep chipping away at his art.

But his pacemaker jumps and jolts around the electric tools, his back protests when he stands too long and his strength fades with every passing year.

So at age 86, the sculptor of stone is hanging up the tools that cut, chiseled, chipped, sanded, refined and defined his artistic life that began at ago 60.

“Wish I’d started earlier, wished I’d known I had this ability,” Tompkins quietly lamented while giving a tour of his studio and stone work at Freeland Art Studios where he’s a longtime beloved member of the community of artists.

A retrospective of Tompkins work will be featured Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Freeland Art Studios 14th Annual Open House. About 20 of his pieces — curving alabaster hands, a trio of camels cast in bronze, regal bishops, joking jesters and a lugubrious, beady-eyed 300-pound round face of his brother dubbed “Ed Head” — will be for sale at deeply discounted prices.

“Some are small for a coffee table, some are large for gardens and pedestals, and they are all unique creations with fascinating stories,” said sculptor Sue Taves, who helps organize the annual event. “Because Lane won’t be paying gallery commissions and wants to make room for future work, these distinctive, one-of-a-kind sculptures are priced at well below market value to clear inventory.”

Freeland Art Studios is divided into numerous working areas for a dozen artists, most who work in stone, ceramics, metal and tile. They create striking fine art pieces, monuments remembering lives gone by, functional pottery, unique tiles and gleaming countertops. The artists are unique in style but united in the demanding process of working with massive chunks of hardened earth.

“We have our individual spaces but it’s really a collaborative space,” explained Taves, who transforms slabs of black granite, basalt, marble and steel into smooth, swirling shapes and finely-edged images. “Working with stone, you often need a second person to give you a hand. So it’s the opposite of being an artist isolated off on their own.”

In 2004, Lloyd Whannel became the first artist to lease space in the 7,000-foot former lumber warehouse for his custom stone fabrication business, Fine Arts Builders. He creates stone memorials, fine art sculpture, countertops and designs other custom work .

“People buy countertops more than they buy art,” Whannel commented. “I found that out a long time ago. That’s what pays the bills.”

Over the years, as more sculptors set up shop, the co-op organization, Freeland Art Studios, was formed. In 2019, the group bought the building.

“It’s really evolved in a good way,” said Whannel, who spent years convincing the builder’s owner to sell the warehouse to the artists. “We really needed to own it,” he said, looking around the outside work area, scattered with piles of stone scraps in all shapes and sizes. “Who wants to have to move all this stone?”

Out the back of the warehouse, sculptors wear protective gear as they wield heavy-duty tools to make first cuts into granite, marble, quartz and other material. The thunderous whine of compressors, grinders, drills is the din of creativity.

“Stone carving happens outside,” Taves explains, “otherwise people inside would have to wear respirators from all the dust.”

Tompkins prefers working with soft stone, such as alabaster, limestone and soapstone. He also loves to work with Carrera marble, a white stone that can be shaped, smoothed, rounded, holed and hollowed.

“It’s the best stone in the world, you can do just about anything with it,” he said.

A number of his pieces look like coral reefs not in color but texture. Long and narrow, they are almost translucent because of all the holes letting in light. “See? I put all those holes in there and it still didn’t collapse. I call it the lightness of stone.”

Many of Tompkins’ pieces are not what they appear to be. For instance, he carved a few faces of bishops over the years with hollowed-out heads. “This is a facade of a bishop,” he said. “It shows an attitude rather than a face. This is not a bishop but it’s a mask, a hat and a robe. An empty suit, all facade and no center.”

For 30 years, Tompkins worked for the Bonneville Power Administration as a substation operator in charge of “energizing things.” Reading the newspaper one day, he learned about a weekend demonstration by the Northwest Stone Sculptors Association at a nearby state park. Curious, he drove from his home in Eugene, Ore. and found 30 artists working under pop-up tents in a field.

“That hour drive changed my life,” Tompkins recalled. “Walking around, it was an epiphany to see it. I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is what I should be doing. And it turns out, I’m pretty good at it.”

When talking about his craft, Tompkins also loves to regale listeners with the back story. The short version: He fell in love with stone, divorced his wife, threw on a backpack and traveled the world. The long version involves tales of visiting a leper hospital in Nepal, wandering the streets of Madrid all night because he couldn’t afford a hotel and encountering wonderful hospitality in Vietnam — 23 countries over 97 days. At age 65.

With his wry sense of humor, white beard and sparkle in his eye, it’s easy to see why Tompkins is a favorite among his peers and people he’s encountered around Whidbey.

“Lane Tompkins has been my hero in art since the first day I met him 10 years ago,” said Therese Kingsbury, an Oak Harbor artist who is active in promoting community art. “His carving is meticulously creative and with ever the story behind it.”

Years ago, Kingsbury purchased one of Tompkins’ pieces. She went back for more after hearing of his retirement.

“I went down right away to see what he had and then my husband and I purchased a sculpture from him,” she said. “And I brought back three car loads of my friends to see and purchase from him as well.”

Taves said she expects Tompkins won’t be able to stay away from the Freeland studio or its artists who gather for coffee every Friday. “Oh, he’ll be back,” she said. “He always has another story to tell.”

Tompkins isn’t leaving his craft completely. Instead of using electric tools on stone, he’s switching over to softer material and sticking to small hand tools.

“I’m going to work on clay, mostly at home,” he said. “Of course, I’ll be by here now and then. And at Friday morning coffee. This is my family now.”

Freeland Art Studios Annual Open House, 11a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday, June 6. Located at 1660 Roberta Ave., Freeland near WAIF Thrift Store. Free, open to public. www.freelandartstudios.com.