Camp Brotherhood: A Word from the Director – July/Aug 1999

I would like to thank everyone who attended the Camp Brotherhood Symposium in July. Much effort was made over thousands of miles, but none greater than the instructors who gave of their time, skills, and professional trade secrets!!! Mark your calendars for July 13-23, 2000, for another great time “on the field”.

If you have ideas for next year, please send them to me by October I, at which time the Symposium Committee 2000 begins plans for next year. Ideas for workshop topics and instructors are welcome from anyone. While, of course, there is comfort in old topics and former instructors, we always consider reaching out for new topics and new instructors.

Our Symposiums are successful because we allow artists to feel free with creativity, and to be supported within a community of peers. We have shown the importance of unconditional support, personal values, and community building. We have integrated the finest of carving techniques, tools, and stone with some of the finest of individuals from many lands.

The 1999 Symposium was indeed, one of our finest experiences at Camp Brotherhood. There were over 90 artists from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Hawaii, Alabama, Massachusetts, and Virginia. We were delighted to have artists from Ontario and British Columbia, Japan, Peru, and New Zealand.

We continue to build a nurturing community of sculptors from many places and disciplines. We have again provided a place where artists can feel welcomed and supported by their peers. Each artist comes with expectations and leaves with inspirations, new friends, new skills, and some with finished sculptures.

We had the following scheduled workshops:

• Introduction to Stone Carving, by Brian Berman and Nicky Oberholtzer;
• Finishing Workshop, by JoAnne Duby;
• Figurative Workshop, by Sabah Al-Dhaher
• Direct Carving, by Richard Hestekind and Kazutaka Uchida;
• Granite Workshop, by Reg Akright;
• Design Workshop, by Laura Alpert; and
• Monumental Carving, by Michael Jacobsen.

We were honored to have Han Lee present his annual lecture, The Mind and The Hands of The Artist.

Alfonso Rodriguez, a Peruvian sculptor from Lima, Peru, inspired us with a delightful and heartfelt presentation of his work as an artist. He indicated his gratitude for attending the symposium and interacting with so many artists.

In addition, we had the following special presentations:

• Figure Drawing, by David Firman, an in-depth introduction to drawing the human figure. David is an art teacher at North Hollywood High School in Los Angeles, CA.
• Forklift Driving, by Tracy Powell, an NWSSA member from Anacortes, WA.
• Carving Stone with Stone, by Ron Geitgey, an NWSSA member from Portland, OR.
• The Nature of Stone, by Ron Geitgey. Ron is an Industrial Minerals Geologist for the state of Oregon. His expertise is invaluable to us in identifying stone and the particular qualities thereof.

See you next year!

Vic