In Charles Markers, Life Stories Are Etched in Stone

For the past decade or so, a new art form aimed at preserving memories of the departed has gained popularity in Southern Maryland cemeteries.

More tombstones are being designed with embellishments and engravings that depict the interests or accomplishments of the person they commemorate.

In the last of three articles, the Southern Maryland Extra is presenting a gallery of such markers in St. Mary's County. Examples from Charles County were included in a May 24 report, and markers in Calvert County were featured June 14.

One form of modern monumental art, the sculpted look, dates to ancient Greece and Rome, when granite and other materials were skillfully fashioned with chisels. Many such examples can be seen in the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, notably Jacob Epstein's memorial to poet Oscar Wilde and the shrinelike stone for Jim Morrison of the rock band the Doors.

An example is the 11-foot Celtic cross in the cemetery of Christ Episcopal Church, Durham Parish in Charles.

Maryland is home to one of the leading artisans of the sandblasting technique for grave markers, Carl Miller, a longtime employee of Merkle Monuments in Baltimore. Working in his trade for more than 30 years, he has drawn hundreds of sketches for stone designs, which he has either sandblasted into a finished product or passed on to an etcher.

Most new gravestones are granite, an igneous rock composed primarily of quartz and feldspar. When working with granite, Miller first applies a liquid glue to the stone and then places a rubber stencil over the glued section.

The letters or design are transferred to the stencil material and then cut out of the rubber, which is applied to the stone for sandblasting. After covering his face, body and hands with protective gear, Miller uses a combination of steel grit and sand abrasive directed through a pressurized nozzle to carve the design.

Accompanying this report are examples of artistic memorials in St. Mary's cemeteries. Some are "pre-need," reserved for future use.

Paul Roberts writes about art in public places. His previous reports for the Extra include a series on murals in Southern Maryland.