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.

“I believe in the potential for human excellence, the divine presence in our world, and in love as the highest truth. I’m excited by history, literature, creative expression, and the ability of people to overcome immense challenges. I am a parent, a traveler, a creator, and have a lived experience of recovery and personal growth. I want to make beautiful things that bring dignity and knowledge to the world around me. Life is a gift.”

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 artistic vision. His self actuated work is often a dreamlike bending of reality and fusion of disparate elements, and deals with themes like identity, history, dichotomies of human experience, and mystery; or diamentrics 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 Juried show 2025.

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