2022 - 35th Annual Stone Carving Symposium - Pilgrim Firs

NW Stone Sculptors Association invites you to join us at Camp Pilgrim Firs for up to eight full days of playing with stone, communing with nature and enjoying the camaraderie of fellow stone enthusiasts. Bring yourself, your creative energy, your tools, and a favorite rock (or four!). If you’re new to this whole things and don’t have stone or tools, we have an entire space set up for beginners with tools and instructors. Stone and tools will be available for purchase by our vendors.

This event will run from July 9-17, 2022 in Port Orchard, WA. We look forward to seeing you there! 

The Campground provides cabins and lodges that are connected by walking paths through the forested grounds and three full meals a day, so you’ll have the ultimate freedom to delve into carving and building friendships. Evenings are filled with slideshows, informational talks, a riot of a fundraising auction, a music-filled final night party, campfires and even nighttime swims in the lake.

Guest Artists and Workshops

Close Contact: Junctions Between Forms and Materials - Stephanie Robison 
The sculpture of Stephanie Robison plays with multiple oppositional relationships. Her latest series of work combines traditional stone carving and the process of needle felting wool. By merging incongruous materials such as wool and marble, she works to synthesize and fuse: hard and soft, organic and geometric, natural and architectural, handmade and the uniform industrial. During the week, Stephanie will be discussing overall design, formal relationships and junctions between forms, and balancing compositions.

Expect the Unexpected - Candyce Garrett
Working with granites since 2001, Candyce excels in contrasting the heavy material with lightness and fluid form by implying motion. She explores the illusion of movement through explosion, implosion, and piercing and plays with surface textures to create a piece that will evolve with the changing ambient lighting to be something new, exciting, and different each time it is viewed. She will be demonstrating various surfacing techniques that achieve these goals in the afternoons as well as discussing inlays and giving a presentation on her momentous body of work.

Elegance in Jade - Deborah Wilson
Acclaimed contemporary jade and granite sculptor will be offering a workshop in jade. Her work reflects her love for organic forms and her ongoing interest in utilizing the characteristics that define this “stone of heaven.” A good selection of precut Canadian and US jades will be for sale to create small scale sculpture and pendants. Class limit is 10 people, so register early and watch your registration confirmation for details.

Beginning Stone Sculpture in the Dojo - Ruth Mueseler and Tamara Buchanan
For the entire 8 symposium days, Ruth and Tamara will be hosting a beginners workshop focused on safe tool usage and introductory instruction. During the workshop, beginners will have a table and stone of their own and use of an extensive selection of the NWSSA beginner tool library.
Ruth is a conglomerate of art education teacher, silversmith, art foundry worker and 29 year stone carving veteran. Her heartfelt work ranges from miniature to monumental. As an instructor she is thoughtful and will engage you with humor and respect.
Tamara has been sculpting for over 30 years. Featured in many shows throughout the West, her work has won several awards. She loves sharing the process of carving and has been teaching at her studio on Lopez Island for over 12 years.

Sculpture Walk on the Meadow Saturday, July 16th
We’ll host an outdoor art gallery that’s a perfect opportunity to show your work in a supportive and appreciative environment. We encourage everyone to bring a finished piece to display and to invite your friends! Bring pedestals if you have them. NWSSA takes a 20% commission.