She rose early on Friday morning to drive to the International Stone Sculpting Symposium at Camp Brotherhood near Mount Vernon, Washington. After packing her car, she drove a couple of blocks to her favorite coffee shop for a latte. It would be her last for a week according to an e-mail from her mentor, Sandy, who had ensured that she had directions and knew what to bring.
This was to be an exciting adventure. She had heard about the symposium at the annual Seattle Flower and Garden Show. Other first time attendees heard about the symposium through fellow artists, the NWSSA web site, and through local universities. Over the years she had had a nagging inner feeling that rocks had been calling to her. She had dabbled in art from time to time in other mediums, but never stone.
Her drive took about an hour from South of Seattle. Once she entered Camp Brotherhood, the registration signs were easy to follow, and parking was easy. Sandy was busy, but thinking this new arrival might be her “mentoree”, stopped what she was doing and walked over to introduce herself. “Jenny?” Jenny was apprehensive as she turned to take Sandy’s out reached hand. Jenny’s fear of the unknown began to evaporate as they greeted each other in person.
Once she had finished signing-in with the registrar and gotten settled into Fisher Lodge, they met again on the carving field. Sandy showed her around pointing out the area for daily lunch, the stone and tool vendors, talked about safety, and finally introduced Jenny to the beginning instructor, Suz.
Suz took over and Sandy headed back to her booth to finish setting up in preparation to carve. Suz showed Jenny the tools that her students would use during the class. These events were there to reinforce the warm welcome and the professional side of the Northwest Stone Sculptors Association. Jenny was very enthused as she picked up the two pound mallet that, for the time being, would be a key tool as she began carving stone.
Suz welcomed all the students, talked briefly about her stone carving career, safety, some basic tools beyond what they had been given, and suggested stone best suited for beginners. Next Suz walked the beginners over to visit the vendors. On the asphalt basketball court, serving as the quarry, the students were introduced to Randy Zeiber, owner of Neolithic Stone, and Russel Erickson from Art City Studios. Both supplied various kinds of stone from different parts of the world. Randy and Russell talked about their stone hoping to generate excitement and potential new customers. The students picked out 30 to 50 pound stones for carving, paid the vendors and carried away their new project. Next, Suz took her class into the “candy store.” Here, Alexandra (Alex) Morosco introduced herself as the Trow & Holden representative. Alex sells hand tools, air tools and electric tools. Her store, being referred to as the “candy store,” has its history in a carver’s desire to buy lots of tools to improve the fun and joy of carving.
As lunch time approached, Sandy returned to escort her mentoree to lunch. Jenny, having enjoyed her new friends in the class, opted to eat with her new classmates. While going through the food line at the Pavilion, an open timber structure over picnic tables, Arliss Newcomb, the symposium overseer, noticed the new face. When the opportunity presented itself Arliss introduced herself and welcomed Jenny to the group. They talked for a bit before it was time for Jenny to head back to class.
Suz, sensing the eagerness of the students to begin carving, talked briefly about design and carving techniques. The group began carving, and Suz wandered among them answering individual questions, discussing their projects, and providing useful techniques. Suz repeated the basic schedule over the next two days as other beginners signed into the symposium. And as appropriate, she interjected more information for all the beginners. Jenny had enjoyed her stay, and decided to extend her visit another two days in order to continue the thrill of carving, the warm friendships she was making, and to finish her project for the Sculpture Walk on Saturday, a “show-off” time for the sculptors.
Sandy continued to check in with Jenny from time to time to ensure she was all right, and not feeling neglected. Jenny told Sandy about a helpful technique using a rasp: lifting it off the stone when drawing back before going forward to remove more stone. This procedure extends the rasp’s life.
Several weeks following the symposium Sandy e-mailed Jenny to thank her for the positive experiences. She also praised her bravery in showing her piece in the Sculpture Walk, and congratulated her on its sale.
Energized by the week of events, carving, and the Sculpture Walk, Jenny was ready for Silver Falls, the last carving event of the year. Jenny wrote thanking Sandy for all her time, those helpful hints on carving, and for her friendship. After sending the e-mail, she paused to allow the excitement of her symposium experiences to be absorbed. She then marked the calendar with the dates for next year’s symposium.
