Labyrinths: The Long and Winding Role
By K. Schipper
YORKVILLE, Ill. – For Marty Kemeen’s specialty – labyrinths – twists and turns are part of the design, so it’s no surprise when the timeline of work seems to wind around.
The owner – with wife Debi – of Labyrinths in Stone says it isn’t uncommon for a labyrinth to take two or three years from the initial discussion with a client to actually laying the stone. Still, the 18 months (starting in mid-2008) when the couple had absolutely no commissions was a bit nerve-wracking.
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Rather than simply wringing their hands, though, the Kermeens used the time to do a lot of promotion of their unique product, and it’s paying off.
Beginning with a pro bono project at the end of 2009, Labyrinths in Stone has taken a 180-degree turn. For the first time ever, Marty Kermeen is working outside the country, and the couple is busier than ever, happily engaged in what they truly believe is a calling.
ART IN HARDSCAPES
Archeologists date labyrinths back about 4,000 years. More recently – as in the 13th and 14th centuries – they became a standard feature in the floors of some of Europe’s leading cathedrals, serving as a pathway to God and a form of pilgrimage for people who couldn’t afford to trek to holy sites.
Today, they’re enjoying a revival, showing up not just in religious facilities, but also in parks, hospitals and universities, with a goal of contemplation.
However, for the Kermeens, the labyrinths are a fairly recent addition to what was already a successful career doing special hardscapes that started in the 1980s. For Marty Kermeen, it’s really a manifestation of a lifelong interest in art.
“Art was always big on my agenda in high school,” he says. “I just didn’t pursue it like I would have liked to. My mom and dad are very talented, and if I had half their skill I’d be pretty good.”
Instead, after a couple other post-high-school jobs, he launched his career by starting Artistic Pavers Inc., a firm that put a heavy emphasis on hardscape.
“We did retaining walls, pavers and a lot of stairs,” he explains. “Then, we started doing ponds, and so we did a little bit of landscaping, too.”
As time went by, Kermeen called on his interest and background in carving to take his pavers to a different level. Then, he got a call from a large corporation asking if he could do its logo in detail in front of its corporate headquarters.
“I wasn’t actually sure how I was going to do it, but I assumed I could, so I said, ‘yes,’” he relates. “That started a second career doing corporate and sports-team logos. It really wasn’t a career, but frosting on the cake to what we’d already been doing.”
