Shaine Lewthwaite was born in South Africa and was always inspired by the innate creativity of her native culture. Although she initially chose a more traditional corporate job in Johannesburg, she later moved to a small tourist town in the Eastern Transvaal and began her full-fledged career as an artist and gallery owner. She started with African-influenced bead art and metal sculpture, which she sold to local boutiques, and then she opened up her own gallery supporting local artists and others from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland.

Ironically, she was not introduced to stone sculpting, her true passion, until she came to the United States and learned the primordial techniques from a renowned master Zimbabwean stone sculptor. She was immediately drawn to the “wild magic” of stone sculpting – the physical challenge, the uniqueness of each and every piece, and the spiritual connection that’s established between her and her stone. Though she appreciates the speed and ease of using modern power tools, Shaine prefers hand carving her pieces; she needs to feel the stone, feel connected to it, and the satisfaction is much more complete when a piece is finally fully sanded and polished many times over.

Shaine's sculptures are coveted by numerous collectors and she has increasing sales each year. Many are sold through the art gallery she founded, Sarasvati Fine Arts, which promotes women artists throughout Colorado. She also participates and sells her work at the Loveland Invitational Sculpture Show each year. In addition to managing the gallery and creating her own pieces, Shaine also teaches ongoing stone sculpting workshops. Perhaps it was her amazing energy, unique sculptures and overall enthusiasm in the art world that caught the eye of HGTV to select her as a featured artist on their “That’s Clever” television show which will air in 2008.