A Bird In The Hand from Silver Falls Symposium

BIRD IN THE HAND FROM SILVER FALLS SYMPOSIUM
By Lisa Svircic

When I joined NWSSA a year ago, I had no idea how awesome you all are and how much I’d learn in such a short time! I am really grateful for this organization and for everyone involved in it.

My first time at Silver Falls was perfect. Carving within a circle of trees surrounded by inspiring sculptors and instructors was my idea of heaven. I came with no ideas of what to carve, so I let the stone speak to me. I love figurative sculpture and knew it would be related to the body somehow.

The shape of the stone lent itself to carving a small open hand. I didn’t want an empty hand, so a dove seemed to be the best solution. Placing the dove backwards in the hand with the head tucked down was intuitive. As I carved, I felt an emotion of the dove wanting to rest or to hide and be left alone. The hand needed to be gentle and open so the dove could choose to rest there or take flight.

My background is in painting and drawing, so sculpture is a fairly new adventure for me. I love being able to express myself in different mediums because there’s so much to be said! Stone sculpting is very relational for me. Each stone says something different and the journey from start to finish is a conversation that I truly enjoy. Plus, the fact that stone is ancient and of the earth is very appealing to me. Eternal, expressive and natural. It’s the perfect medium.

Lisa Svircic

Learn more about Lisa and her work at: lsvir.com