Creatures to emerge from deep.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

NEWPORT - There's no shortage of granite at the south face of Yaquina Head, which was carved out of a once-working rock quarry.

But a closer look reveals not just ordinary boulders and pebbles, but ones whose shapes resemble sea creatures, the same way a cumulus cloud in the sky can recall a rabbit. This stone may lie flat and round like a Dungeness crab, that one fat and proud like a Stellar sea lion.

All it takes is a little imagination. And by next summer, spotting critters in the outcroppings of Quarry Cove might be even easier, thanks to a partnership with one of China's most famous artists.

Professor Hong Shiqing, of Hangzhou, China, has agreed to embark on a project that would transform ordinary stones in subtle but remarkable ways, carving an eye into a fish-shaped stone to reveal its inner salmon, or spines on a slab that resembles a rockfish.

These Han Dynasty-style carvings would be the first in the United States if the project is approved. Officials at the Bureau of Land Management hope the carvings would draw thousands of additional visitors to the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, boosting the region's economy.

"The impact this would have on tourism would be potentially millions of dollars a year," said Al King, the former state senator who dreamed up the art project after meeting Hong on a recent trip to China.

"Professor Hong is in many ways the last living expert of Han and Qin Dynasty stone sculpture."

As of right now, it's just a proposal, one that because of its scope and location on public land requires the bureau to conduct an environmental assessment to study its impact and consider public testimony. But, because the work won't involve power tools or any significant changes to the site, there's not much to oppose - unless you don't like Han Dynasty art, a style also known as "earth art," that utilizes simple lines to suggest features of creatures found in nature.

"In addition to being a great art, environmental education and cultural exchange opportunity, it's a way to distribute the visitor impact at (Yaquina Head,)" King said.

The idea stems from King's travels to China when he was in the Legislature, where he explored ways to bridge the gap between his country and China in economic and cultural ways, he said. The search led him to Hong, who had earned national repute for the 12 years he spent carving stones on Dalu Island, a previously deserted island off China's coast. Hong's work turned Dalu into a tourist attraction.

King saw the sculptures when he visited the island, whose coastline reminded him of Oregon's.

"It was kind of an epiphany," King said.

Bureau of Land Management officials jumped at the idea. They'd tried to convert the former quarry at Yaquina into a tidepooling area in 1994. But the pools never took hold, and Quarry Cove isn't as popular as officials would like it to be. Since the rocks Hong will carve will only be those already disturbed by past mining operations, the impact on the existing landscape will only be an enhancement, said the bureau's manager at Yaquina, Joe Ashor.

"He sits and studies the rock, looks for shapes of creatures already starting in the rock," Ashor said. "It's very minimalistic; not real ornate or intricate, just very simple."

The Oregon Coast Council for the Arts has agreed to raise the $85,000 that King estimates the project will cost, including hiring a local stonecutter to realize Hong's vision.

The Chinese professor already has scouted the area, chosen the rocks he would use and created drawings to depict how the stones will be transformed.

"The material is free," Ashor said. "It's already there."

Whether Hong himself will be able to return to the site is questionable, however. He is 75 year old, King said, and struggling with diabetes. He may not be stable enough to make the trip, and would have to oversee the project work via videoconferencing. But King is hopeful that he can make it.

"It would be a great loss not to have his hand in on it," King said.