Crafting Beauty, Crafted by Truth.

Nick Barstad

Stone Sculpture and Gemstone Art

Nicholas Karol Clark Barstad is an independent stone sculptor and gem carver; sole proprietor of Caldera Fine Art Limited in the Greater Denver area, Colorado. His work is an exploration of form, material and process, with a technical practice driven by classical and contemporary norms and traditions, but also informed by innovative experimentation with new processes, tools, and techniques. Nick believes that much is possible with the tools of our age, and a dynamic and intuitive way of making is now possible even in very hard subtractive media. He often carves directly from a mental image with minimal sketching. This is known as “Direct carving” and it allows the piece to take shape and gather energy of its own organically, rather than the initial creative moment occurring through the manufacture of a maquette or quarter mold. This approach fuses the raw creative discovery into the final work itself.

The subjects of these works are often determined by the needs of his clients, but are always rendered through the lens of the artist’s own vision. His self actuated work is often a dreamlike bending of reality and fusion of disparate elements. Diametric themes run through his art, such as life and death; love and fear, nature and the hand of man. However, regardless of the subject, his work exudes a reverence for love, beauty, truth, poise, and dignity.

Nick’s work has been collected internationally and domestically, as well as being installed on the grounds of Churches and institutions in multiple states.

He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute in 2020 and 2021, was a stone cutter and apprentice at 2Sculpt 2020-2021, worked with DO More Dream Less in Arizona 2021-2022, and attended the Marble Marble Symposium for three sessions in 2021 and one session in 2023. His work has featured in various shows, including “Shine” in Tucson 2025, and received Best in Show at the Gilpin Arts Jurried show 2025.