From the President....
The program and registration for out 29th Camp Brotherhood Symposium is up on the website and you can now register. Senden Blackwood (New Zealand), Georg Schmerholz, Deborah Wilson, Tamara Buchanan and Ruth Mueseler will be there to instruct, talk about their work, visit old friends and make new friends. Check it out and think about entering the sculpture walk. The economy has turned around and many of our members are experiencing sales at their galleries and shows. The management at Camp B has asked about helping to promote the sculpture walk.
Also this year, we are making an effort to reach out to the sculpture instructors and their students around the country to introduce them to our symposiums. If you are an instructor or know of someone who teaches, or a student who would benefit from attending one of the symposiums, please contact me (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) so I can talk with you about the symposium, available scholarships, and work study.
Another opportunity you should put on your calendar to attend (and to show your smaller pieces) is the one day "Picnic in the Park" in Volunteer Park in Seattle on June 12th. It will be a change to picnic and party as well as talk to the local folks. Watch the website and Facebook for the call to artists.
Also, we hope to be repeating the Occidental Park First Thursday Art Walk event. This event is still shaping up and we are hoping to have a demonstration carving booth. Email CyraJane (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) if you would like to do some kind of carving demo.
Lakewold Gardens will be displaying large pieces from April to September. If you are in the South Tacoma area, drop by and check out the gardens and NWSSA member's work.
We are looking to schedule workshops this coming fall. I've already has a request for Pat Barton's polishing workshop nd his working wet workshop. If there are workshops you would like to attend, please drop me a note.
Learn Much, Share with Many, and Carve Proud
... Carl
From the President....
It’s the winter months and I know some of you are hunkered down until things warm up and the days get longer. Others are using the longer nights to read, relax, and contemplate. This year has seen many new faces, lots of energy and enthusiasm, and a growing interest in stone carving. It’s an alive, hardworking, and vibrant community of carvers that help one another and during these long night’s worth contemplating.
In the last year many of our members participated in the shows we held and a few have completed and installed major commissions. Several of our members have new commissions in progress and it is likely you will be hearing about them in the journal this coming year.
If you are one of our newer members or have new pieces you would like to show this coming year, please consider submitting it to the Flower and Garden show, the Mother’s Day show at Lakewold Gardens, or the Volunteer Park show. Look for the Call For Artists on our web site: http://nwssa.org/events/call-for-artists.
We have had requests for a repeat of the polishing workshop and the idea of a sandblasting workshop, so once again check the nwssa.org web site: http://nwssa.org/events/upcoming-workshops
Finally, for those of you interested in figurative work, NWSSA (thanks to Lisa Svircic) is sponsoring and coordinating Life Drawing sessions at the Schack Art Center (thanks to Shannon Tipple-Leen) in Everett every Friday evening from 5:30pm starting Jan15th until April 29. If you are ever in Everett WA on a Friday evening think about dropping by the Schack Art Center, as an NWSSA member you’ll get a discount. For more details check-out: http://www.schack.org/classes/figure-drawing/
Learn Much, Share with many, and Carve Proud.
Carl
From the President....
The second annual International Sculpture Day was this April 24th. Maybe you had work on display or took the opportunity, if you weren't tied to your display, to visit venues displaying sculpture. Maybe next year one of you can help NWSSA play a larger role in organizing the display of STONE sculpture on International Sculpture Day.
To celebrate the day this year, Pat Barton took the opportunity to drag me to as many venues as we could visit in one day on Whidbey and Camano Islands. That included seeing Hank Nelson's Cloudstone Sculpture Park. If you ever find yourself with the opportunity to visit Cloudstone, take it. Or at least Google nwssa.org/HankNelson. The first item up should be "Cloudstone revealed at last" by Tracy Powell.
On our way to Hank's place on Whidbey Island, we stopped by the Freehand Art Studios and saw a whole lot of NWSSA members' work. There was much more variety from each artist than I am used to finding in the typical gallery setting. That's the cool think about visiting an artist's work place, you get to see it all.
On our drive back, we caught the end of the last day of the hand carving workshop held at Kara Matzke's on Camano Island. Sue Taves was the instructor, and there were new faces (Oregon) and old hands (Puget Sound and Canada) and lots of learning and good work accomplished at the workshop.
The long day gave me cause to reflect. Do something new; every stone is new. Do something challenging; every stone is challenging. Do something hard; stone. Whatever you choose to do, practice, practice, practice. Do it with mentorship, do it with flourish, and do it with community.
Learn Much, Share with many, and Carve Proud...
Carl
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The planning for Seattle’s 2016 Flower and Garden Show in February has begun. Kerin Monica Hawkinson has agreed to take on the coordination of this year's NWSSA booth at the show. As a member, you may display your work at this show where thousands of people will see it. Watch for the NWSSA list serve notice in your email or check our web site for details starting after Thanksgiving, to make your submission. If you have never participated before, this is a good way to get started with displaying your work.
Reserve the evening of Saturday January 23rd 2016 for an informal workshop/discussion/salon at Batya Freidman’s home in Seattle. The discussion will be a follow-up on last year's: "Art, Design, and Intention - All to What End?" It promises to be an evening filled with good conversation, so check the workshops part of the NWSSA web site in December.
Last year Lakewold Gardens presented an opportunity for NWSSA members to display large outdoor pieces in an extraordinary setting
(check the article: http://nwssa.org/events/past-shows-openings/937-lakewold-gardens-show)
One thing we heard from members was that the display time for big outdoor pieces was short. We are working with Lakewold so that this year large pieces will be on display from early-mid April until mid-late September. If you have large outdoor pieces please consider participating in Lakewold this year and keep an eye out for the call.
May you flourish in the coming months and your work area be filled with chips, dust, and mud -- if you work wet.
Carve proud
Carl
