For over thirty years, artist and mosaicist Andreas Kunert has worked with stone. In 2009, artist Naomi Zettl joined him. Partners in life and business, they collaborate to design and create unique artistic and functional works such as mosaic panels, garden features, fireplaces, and sculptural elements. Their creative inspiration flows directly from nature and they seldom work from a preconceived design or drawing, preferring to let their pieces grow from the vision in their minds and the spirit of the stones and other materials that they use.

Pictured here is the wall they built on their Vancouver Island property. The approximately 250 tons of stone were individually selected and installed by the Kunerts. A 4-ton granite boulder the couple fell in love with in South Dakota was trucked to their home, where it was split down the middle and used to flank the garden gate. Passionate about finding a way to use materials that would otherwise be discarded, they incorporated large columns of basalt—the cast-off material from windowsill production—into their design. The columns’ natural hexagonal shape was formed from rapidly cooling lava flows. Colorful stone mosaics are interspersed between the columns and boulders. The cedar garden gate was designed by the couple and custom-made by a woodworker neighbor. Its window is a recycled cog.

The project began November 2014 and was completed May 2015, in time to create a beautiful backdrop for the couple’s August wedding at their home.

Gate design, wall design and construction – Naomi and Andreas Kunert, Ancient Art of Stone, Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island

Gate construction –  Jack Van Hell, Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island

Photo Courtesy of Ancient Art of Stone