This winter I went through my old newsletters and Journals. You can only shovel so much snow. I was taken aback by the members who used to attend our symposia and are no longer active in other ways in our organization. I do not know if this is a natural course or if we as an organization are failing our members in some way.
I have asked for your input on issues that you might feel important, but my mailbox has dust on it. Is it a lack of interest, other pursuits, or something that needs attention?
My feelings from the first symposium I attended were passionate from the stone to the people. Though coming from all different lifestyles, we came together to share our love of stone with other like-minded individuals.
This commonality makes us unique, especially so when you see non carver’s eyes glaze over after five minutes of conversation about a rock.
I realize that packing up all the gear we require to come to a symposium, when you have your own studio of near perfection, poses an issue of, “do I really want to do this?”
Let me just ask, “do you ever get lonely in your solitary pursuit?” “Have you really learned all there is to know about stone, about new approaches and or new solutions to old problems?”
Besides having a great time amidst your fellow sculptors, there are always those pearls of knowledge that come in conversation with each other. If you only come to a symposium to absorb the fellowship and don’t come to sculpt, you still get great dividends in that fellowship and perhaps one of those pearls. Sometimes just being with others can shed new light on our work and life.
If you know someone who no longer is active in our organization I would urge you to contact them, they may need you.
Just so you know, I am not dialing for dollars here; I am concerned with the heart health of our organization. It is you the members with your contributions to the whole that make the recipe outstanding. Lacking a few ingredients does matter in the outcome, and I love outstanding recipes!
Take a few minutes at the end-of-day and help me dust off my mail box. It may help to ensure our heart health.
-Elaine Mac Kay
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Spring is just around the bend after the coming of the Light, and so our thoughts turn to a more pleasant season for working stone. But before you become embroiled in your next great sculpture, I would like to remind you that there are two positions open on the BOD. We have formed a committee to find members willing and able to be on the Board. However, I would like to have more input from you, the members of our association, in this regard. Do you know someone who you think would be a good board member, perhaps yourself? If so please send me your candidates’ names.
The BOD does business in your name and plays an important role in the operation of our association. If you have a desire to see us grow in a particular direction, then the BOD is where you need to be.
Please contact me directly regarding this and or any other issue you have. I take my position as president seriously and I can only represent you if I know what is on your mind. I read and will answer all mail and e-mail.
For example, last year at Camp B, attendees showed their strong desire for more figurative classes and so this year we will have them at Camp. And, what about those of you who do not attend Camp B. but support Silver Falls and Roche Harbor. I will pass your suggestions onto the individual symposia directors.
Last year was Hon Lee’s final lecture series with his marvelous presentations. Do you know of anyone who could fill such a role, not necessarily a sculptor, perhaps a traveler whose passion is the artfulness of the world beyond our borders? And for those of you who go beyond our borders, take pictures and send them to the Journal. Whoever you are, if you are reading this, take pity on those of us who cannot afford the sojourn.
Written 13 December, 12 degrees, freezing fog, and with 12 inches of snow on the ground.
Your pres,
-Elaine Mac Kay
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After my hue and cry in the last Journal, I am happy to say that I received a nice long email from Lee Gass up in the Northern latitudes. He was instrumental in getting the SLC Zimbabwean group turned on to NWSSA and their attendance at the Hand Carving Retreat this year.
He said that e-mail remains a rich contact for him, but doesn't hear from many members of NWSSA. For those of you who have the time in the wee hours, email is a great way to stay in contact.
About the time you receive this Journal, you will be getting your BOD ballots in the mail. Please take a couple of minutes and vote. It’s your board - help to make it a good one. What does the BOD do? It makes policy and decisions that directly affect you as members - some you may agree with and others not. The choice is yours.
Now, one decision we made at the last BOD meeting was to institute weekend workshops. We do not have an agenda yet, but it is a pilot program that will be held at Marenako's Stonearium in Seattle.
There is a lot of traffic at the Stonearium both of people wanting stone and of people who wander in from the garden business at the corner. These people are interested in learning about stone and not in just building steps. It is my hope that these workshops will increase both our membership and interest in the art of stone.
If this pilot program takes off, I envision satellite programs in those communities that have strong arts programs and where we have members who could be instructors. The fact that they would be short workshops could greatly reduce the cost for new people. I have great expectations for this program.
Another thing the BOD is responsible for is scaring up grants and I use the word scare because the getting of grants is no easy matter. We could use a little help with this from anyone out there who has the skills and can spare a little time.
The BOD is also responsible for the financial health of our Association. In this regard, you need people who understand both the strange world of business and that metaphysical realm of artful human relations which is vital to our heart health.
These are just a few things that the BOD does. Have I convinced you to vote! If you're not sure whether someone would make a good BOD member, contact a person you trust and ask for their input.
Camp Brotherhood is drawing close as you read this. This year we are beset by higher costs in most everything. The price of oil affects all businesses whether it ‘should’ or not.
World events have put us in that difficult spot between the rock and the hard place. I hope you all understand this. I know fuel prices this summer will affect those of you coming from great distances. Please try not to let that influence your attendance on the Field of Dreams!
Give up a McDee, come and enjoy your fellow sculptors and our great team of instructors for this year.
Paul Lindhard from Art City is coming for the first time in 10 years, and bringing his expertise in lighted columns - très exciting! The water feature classes are something everyone should attend. They do sell when other pieces of art may not and they are fun to do both for yourself and for others. Our figurative program is greatly enhanced this year because of your requests.
We will have a general meeting while at Camp. This is an opportunity for you to raise your hand and be heard about the kind of instruction you want or other issues.
If public speaking is not your cup of tea, I am always available on the field, stop me, ask me and I'll try to make sure your questions are answered. Looking forward to seeing all of you, you are what I am about!
Your Prez,
Elaine
The Holiday season conveys many different themes in our diverse culture, but to most there is some sort of consensus that it is a time of reflection backwards to the old year and a look forward to the new. As artists the reflective process is inherent in our art. We look back and are inspired by the Masters and thus seek in looking forward to sculpt new identities in our stones.
As stone sculptors, we carve the bedrock beyond our human existence; it is a time of quest, upheaval, and flux. Is there any question therefore that our medium embodies the elements of our art and of our lives? Upheaval and Flux. There are much easier mediums, faster, cleaner and less taxing.
It’s easy to become a lapsed stone sculptor, and I miss the familiar faces on the field of dreams. I also note the lack of new, young, impassioned stone sculptors on the field of dreams. What to do? Is it merely a conundrum or a failure to diversify and embrace others who love stone?
I came to this organization in 1996 to cut sink holes in a piece of marble, hardly an artist, but with a passion to make my home reflective of my love of stone. It is now an ongoing art project and if I am fortunate I will draw my last line on a stone -showing a new idea.
As this season unfolds, I will end with a quote from Nagare’s book, Life of a Samurai Artist. I think it a fitting reflection on why it is that we do what we do - or not!
Regards,
Elaine M. Mac Kay
Stone
“I am drawn to stone because it is stubborn; an opponent that frightens for it cannot be bested. Granite will last though he who has shaped it may be a mere memory some years down the road. My longing to work in stone is akin to the need for love: an emotion that endlessly burns within.”
-Masayuki Nagare
