Hand-carved from a single piece of Kisii soapstone by African artisans, this small soapstone hearts are brightly painted and a great keepsake reminder to share the love with your family and friends.
- Mixed Colors
- Measures approximately 1 inch
- Hand-painted.
- Soapstone is a soft, natural mineral from the earth, making it easy to carve into many forms. Handle with care to avoid breakage.
- Each piece has gone through multiple stages of sanding and waxing, giving the soapstone a satiny finish.
- Socially responsible products that empower consumers to purchase according to their values and help alleviate global poverty.
- Fair Trade is an alternative business model that values safe workplaces, fair wages and community investment for factory employees.
Story Behind the Art:
Each sculpture is artfully hand-carved from a single piece of Kisii soapstone, found only in the hills of southwestern Kenya. Mining the soapstone from surface hills is a labor-intensive process, using little to no machinery. Laborers works with shovels, picks, axes and machetes to carve out large soapstone chucks, which are then carved into beautiful art.
Soapstone is mined from great pits in the area surrounding Kiisi, Kenya. The mined soapstone is then delivered to carvers who carve sculptures from the natural stone for the wholesale market, the color of which ranges from cream, to pink, to brown, to yellow, to black, to a marbling of all of them. Once carved, the craftspeople smooth rough edges of the soapstone with sandpaper dipped in water and polish the piece to a high gloss or paint African motifs in brilliant colors with etched accents