Camp B Centerfold 2016

CAMP BROTHERHOOD JULY 9 THROUGH 17, 2016

It’s been hours, or days, or a lifetime. Time lost its ticking in the tiny landscape of stone in front of you, only evident in the growing pile of chips and dust around your feet, and the minutely drastic changes in the stone’s current face. You’re making progress! and the chitter of friends and the ringing of their tools fades in and out of your awareness as all your attention is on the next step.

Suddenly the whir of noise around you drastically mutes, laughter reaching in through the daze of workflow enough to pull your eyes up to the field as your ear muffs feel abruptly unnecessary. Your neighbor is mouthing and gesturing excitedly from their pop-up studio and the pull of a small exodus screams “Lunchtime!”

And so our eyes light up even more, and we undo our safety layers and stretch out our legs and stream together toward our communal mid-day meal. Sometime mid-week, this experience becomes something of an always has been and always will be. The immersive daily routine of open worktime punctuated with educational workshops, discussions of technique and theory, and inspiring presentations creates an unmatched environment for the stimulation and nurture of our stone-carving souls. In the late evenings, we share campfires and music and stories and never-ending opportunities to geek out about everything rock with our like – minded friends.

This is Camp B, more formally known as the International Stone Carving Symposium held at the pastoral Treacy Levine Center in Mt. Vernon, WA. If you have been to Camp B, then you know this experience described above. If you haven’t been, this is partially why so many of us keep returning year after year; I say partially as even the allusion to the collection of individual experiences and memories and events is simply impossible to convey in text. Suffice to say that whether it’s your first or your 29^th year, it will be one to remember.

Georg Schmerholz and Senden Blackwood will be joining us as Guest Artists this year. Georg is an expert at blending multiple media and styles: figurative and abstract, stone and metal. He will be focusing on his school of thought around the interplay between consciousness and the creative sculptural process. Senden will be traveling from Australia to carve with us and explore the space where a sharp aesthetic eye and a dynamic physical process meet to produce striking abstract sculpture. 

Our Beginner’s Stone Carving intensive is once again offered with plenty of tools and workspaces, and individual instruction and encouragement from the indelible team of Ruth Mueseler and Tamara Buchanan. The efforts of these women and the team who sets up the workspace coalesce to provide a solidly positive experience for anyone who wants to participate, regardless of their prior know-how. We are also pleased to again feature Deborah Wilson’s week long jade workshop. Participants are welcome to work on dedicated jade-carving tools with focused instruction and support; most will finish at least one piece by the end of the week. Space is limited for this the jade workshops, so be sure to sign up early when our next Symposium is available!