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President's Message

President's Message Nov-Dec 2018

From the President.... 
CarlNelson2017

The opportunities to display your work continues. Mark your calendars for the Jan 14, 2019 opening of: “Cross + Over Honoring a Re-Birth in Form” at Portland Community College’s Sylvania Gallery. This show will feature the works made from re-purposed marble crosses. As described in the show brochure, “Following the replacement of weathered cemetery crosses with granite, Colorado marble forms became available for sculptors. Celebrate the new life given to these crosses.”

Over 20 members have “acquired” a cemetery cross at NWSSA’s Suttle Lake auctions. As of this writing, 10 have confirmed they will be contributing a piece or documentation of their work for display. If you have a “Cross + Over” to display and have NOT contacted me, please email me: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ASAP so we can reserve a spot for you in the show. 

Many thanks to Michael Creger for finding the space and scheduling the event, and especially to Kim Lewis for his vision and generosity of the cross donations that make it possible. See two of the cross + over entries on the back cover of this issue.

Ben Mefford reports progress on the sculpture display at Marymoor, and are waiting for a contract from King County to get the final details of our arrangement hammered out. Stay tuned and think “public art” in late 2019.

Speaking of public art, Candyce Garret will be back next year to Pilgrim Firs to continue work on her granite pieces, and John Lafortune will also be there. So, if you want first-hand experience and hints, put Pilgrim Firs on your calendar, July 6-14, 2019. And, if you’d like the opportunity to work on a large marble piece, think about joining Mark Andrews and fellow sculptors at the Suttle Lake symposium, August 11-18, 2019 as they continue the carving.

I’ve been very surprised by the warm response I get when I speak with people about having a youth-oriented symposium event. If you have any ideas about what you might like to see at a stone carving event for 12-18 year olds, drop me a note.

I would like to welcome Constance Jones to the board. Given her years of experience as a therapist, she has expressed an interest in working with Rick Johnson and the folks at joint Base Lewis McCord (JBLM) veteran’s art therapy program. If you would like to lend a hand, drop Rick Johnson a note so he can pass it on to the folks at JBLM.

Finally, please consider sharing your skills and wisdom by serving on the board for a two year term. It is you that makes things happen, so please consider how you might contribute.


Carve Proud, Learn Much, and Share with Many.…
…Carl

President's Message May-June 2018

From the President.... 
CarlNelson2017

April 24th was International sculpture Day! Two of our members had a memorable April 24th, Hank Nelson and Sue Taves were honored on International sculpture day by our Sculpture Northwest friends in Bellingham who promote outdoor sculpture displays in the four northernmost counties of Washington state.Look for more details in an upcoming journal. Hope you had a chance to celebrate, experience great sculpture, and hang out with your fellow sculptors.
Speaking of hanging out with fellow sculptors, Michael Yeaman, conceived, coordinated, and made happen the “Elements of Sculpture - a viewer’s guide” workshop with Herbert George based on Herbert’s book of the same name.The event on Orcas Island and the San Juan sculpture park was a success. A special thanks to Michael and his wife Deborah for hosting the reception Friday evening at their house, the food, Orcas Island microbrews and atmosphere were great.Herbert George’s presentation of a basic vocabulary of 14 elements to talk about sculpture is a very good starting place.

Elements of Sculpture
1. Movement   8. Color
2. Light   9. Scale
3. Material 10. Mass
4. Place 11. Gravity
5. Surface 12. Volume
6. Edge 13. Space
7. Texture 14. Memory


In addition, I especially enjoyed the Sunday morning walk with the attendees thru Roche Harbor Sculpture Park and his use of the elements to talk about the stone sculpture in the park. One surprise was hearing Herbert George speak about sitting, setting, and display of sculpture it sounded very much like what we have heard Richsculpture it sounded very much like what we have heard RichHestekind speak about.It is likely you will hear more about the 14 elements, Herbert has given Michael permission to develop a PowerPoint presentation for use at our symposia.
Look for the formal request on the listserve, or in a future journal. In the meantime, if you have a big outdoor piece and a photo of it, email it to Ben: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Finally, board elections are coming up. There are three positions open and three board members are running for reelection: Ken Barnes, Michael Yeaman and Doug Wiltshire.If you’d like to serve on the board, or nominate someone, let Renee (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) know so we can properly hold our election of board members. If you have questions about serving on the board feel free to drop me a note: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or ask a board member, their names and phone numbers are on page two of the journal.


Carve Proud, Learn Much, and Share with Many.…
…Carl

President's Message March-April 2018

From the President.... 
CarlNelson2017

NWSSA is now officially an Amazon Smile charity. This means if you go to smile.amazon.com on your way to buy something from Amazon’s web site, and tell them Northwest Stone Sculptors Association is your preferred charity, they donate a half a percent of the value of your purchase to NWSSA. If you are familiar with their program, consider NWSSA every once in awhile. If you have never used Amazon Smile and if you sign up for their Smile program from March 12 to 31, 2018 Amazon will give 1.5% of your first purchase to NWSSA.

The Seattle Flower and Garden show had a great turnout! Thanks to all who brought pieces for the unexpectedly larger booth size. Monika Hawkinson, Nicky Oberholtzer, and Pat Barton pulled it together and you volunteers made it happen.

If you would be interested in helping coordinate and setup next year’s Flower and Garden show, contact Pat Barton. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) It’s a great way to spread the word about stone sculpture to the public and hang out with some of your fellow carvers.

One more step forward on Marymoor Park in Redmond. We have preliminary engineering drawings for precast bases that can hold 6000# at a height of 4’, or an 8’ x 2’ x 2’ stone sculpture. We have preliminary pricing and will be working with King County on our next steps. Thanks to Ben Mefford for moving this forward. Think about what you might want to display at Marymoor. Let our two symposium directors know if you’d like a session on large works while you are at the symposium.

Pilgrim Firs: Cyra Jane Hobson - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Suttle Lake: Ben Mefford - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Speaking of symposiums, registration for Pilgrim Firs, July 7th to 15th 2018, is up on the web site. Sign-up before May 31st and get $100 off your registration.

I received news that the large outdoors works display at Kubota gardens will not occur this year, so all the more reason to think about having something ready for display in Redmond.


Carve Proud, Learn Much, and Share with Many.…
…Carl

President's Message Jan-Feb 2018

Hindu Temple Columns, photo by Carl Nelson

From the President.... 
CarlNelson2017

Ed. Note: As we go to press, Carl Nelson is in India. In place of his regular column we include a photo and caption from his travels.

I have learned from my Mediterranean travels, that when a conqueror who brought a different culture to a new land, and wanted to erect temples, he recycled and repurposed material from structures already there.

Here are the recycled columns from Hindu and Jain temples that were used in 1192 to build the first mosque in India. Because Islam does not allow images of people, if you look closely, you can see where the images on the stone columns have been erased.

Carve Proud, Learn Much, and Share with Many.…
…Carl