A heart-shaped stone arch sculpture at Fort Williams Park in Cape Elizabeth, which was created using existing rocks on the shore, is just one of many installations that an up-and-coming artist in Sebago has been creating since spring.

“There is no glue or mortar or anything,” said 39-year-old David Allen of his creations. “Most of the work is not meant to be permanent, though some of them last for a surprisingly long time.”

Allen, owner of Stone Point Studio in Sebago, said he built a similar stone-arched sculpture on a large boulder in the middle of a river in the Carrabassett Valley two months ago that has managed to stay intact.

“It’s nice when they do last a long time, but it’s typically not the case,” Allen said. “Especially at somewhere like Fort Williams, people are definitely tempted to touch them.”

James McCain, director of the Arboretum Project at Fort Williams, said he was not aware of Allen’s work at the park, but after seeing a picture of it online Monday, said it reminded him of British artist Andy Goldsworthy, whose work he “really loves.”

“It’s beautiful,” he said of Allen’s artwork.

Allen not only specializes in creatively stacking rocks to create eye-catching, freestanding structures, he also works with all sorts of natural materials, such as stones in the bottom of a river, leaves or sticks in a forest, or ice in a frozen landscape.

He constructed the sculpture at Fort Williams in November. It was located near the first parking lot on the left at the park’s entrance. Allen’s artwork can be seen in various natural settings all throughout New England, he said.

After he completes a piece, he takes photographs of each one and shares them on his Facebook page and his Stone Point Studio website, which he launched in July.

He said many people stop to compliment him on his work or tell him it made their day. It sparks interesting conversations, said Allen.

Most of his work is “spur of the moment.” He enjoys working with his hands and “figuring out the geometry and spatial relationships” of the material, he said. “To me, it’s second nature.”

“The reactions I started getting were mind-blowing,” said Allen. “I am getting 100 percent positive feedback.”

From Friday, Dec. 5, through Tuesday, Dec. 23, some of Allen’s digital prints, miniature sculptures and larger sculptures are for sale during the annual Holiday Benefit & Art Show Sale at Chaya Studio Jewelry in South Portland.

While the mini sculptures measure 11?2-by-1 foot tall, the larger sculptures are usually about 5-by-3-feet tall, said Allen.

According to the studio owner, Chaya Caron, the proceeds from the art show will benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Maine. She is looking forward to displaying Allen’s work.

“It’s a balance between a love of working with natural material in its element, but also finding a way to capture it with a camera,” said Caron. “Some of his more striking photography is work where he’s using sunsets and sunrises, and manipulating light. He’s not only working within the landscapes, but finding a way to bring that landscape inside, in the form of a print.”

Originally from Massachusetts, Allen has worked as a carpenter for most of his professional life. Last spring, he decided to pursue art instead, he said.

What makes his installations different is the heart shape, “which speaks to us about different emotions, ideas and understandings in life,” he said. “From love, to empathy, hope, happiness, friendship, loss and even death, this form has taken on a deeper meaning than any words could possibly describe.”

“I had this epiphany one day about how to make different shapes,” such as a diamond, a triangle, and a heart shape, he said. The heart is “a symbol people gravitate toward,” he said.

A majority of his installations are created on his property on Allen Road, located off Convene Road in Sebago. He creates art in various places almost every day, and while some smaller structures take 15-20 minutes to build, others can take hours or days, he said.

“It’s about the physics of it,” he said of his arches.

When working with a natural medium such as leaves, sticks, flowers and rocks, the possibilities are endless, said Allen.

“It’s interesting to go to different places, and the material is different everywhere,” he said.

In the future, he envisions commissioning his art on a larger scale and eventually leading workshops.

According to Allen, a woman in Massachusetts recently asked him to build a stone arch for her 84-year-old father for his birthday. In New Jersey, another woman, whose community was ruined by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, contacted him about providing one of his installations to “boost the morale of the town,” he said.

“I’ve always liked natural materials and being outdoors, and things of that nature,” said Allen. “There’s nothing more awesome than going out to a river or out in the woods and making cool stuff.”

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A CLOSER LOOK

From Friday, Dec. 5, through Tuesday, Dec. 23, some of David Allen’s digital prints, miniature rock sculptures and larger sculptures will be for sale during the annual Holiday Benefit & Art Show Sale at Chaya Studio Jewelry, 22 Cottage Road in South Portland. For more information visit www.chayastudio.com or call 221-6552.

In November, local artist David Allen built a 5-by-3-foot-tall, heart-shaped stone arch on the rocky shore of Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth. Visible in the distance is Ram Island Ledge Light.  Sebago artist David Allen creates art using natural materials, including this outline of a human body using seaweed at Higgins Beach in Scarborough last summer.   David Allen, an artist from Sebago, creates installations with natural materials throughout New England, including at Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth.