Could You Pass Me That Thingy? It All Happened at Silver Falls – Sept/Oct 2008

Feature interviews have taken Cathy Rae Smith from the Parisian couture house of Yves Saint Laurent to private tete a tetes with the likes of Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, David Yurman and Oscar de la Renta. She divides her energies between writing and creating contemporary art, stone carving being her most recent fascination. She is also a two-time Knight Scholar and a Fashion Group International Scholar.

The lure of carving stone alongside seasoned sculptors goes without saying. As if that is not inducement enough, factor in the splendor of a natural forest setting complete with multiple waterfalls, a cabin and three hot meals per day . . . well, count me in!

Little did I know my adventure into the wild world of stone carving, an addictive preoccupation I have found, would begin with such a bang. That bang came in the form of my car suffering a complete meltdown on Highway 22, just a few miles past Salem and shortly before the turn to Silver Falls. My first “camp” day was spent instead languishing for four hours in a hot car, eating a pack of saltine crackers, and hanging my feet out the open window to feel the breeze of traffic quickly whizzing past. After a long tow back to Portland and a kind friend offering me a ride the following day, I finally arrived and settled in to the distinctive tempo – chip, chip, chip, grind, grind, grind, eat, sleep, repeat.

Clouds of marble dust heightened the perpetual fogging of my safety glasses. However, Alex remedied the condensation issues, as it turned out, by providing me a decent dust mask if I promised to throw away the pitiful excuse for a mask I had been using. After that solution, I kept forgetting whether my safety glasses were even on until I would occasionally feel a chip bounce off my cheek. Foregoing the hammer and chisel after a day of minimal progress, I graduated up to the level of electric and air powered tools. I dazzled my contemporaries, I am sure, with my swift mastery of the air-powered pounding thingy and the electricity charged scrapping do-hickey, (now, don’t allow my freely tossing in all this technical jargon to intimidate).  I was a woman on a mission to pierce through the thick slab of marble. Happily, no make that triumphantly, I succeeded, with the support of kind and skilled sculptors around me.

David kept vigilance and visited us students like a steady, gently guiding influence, even letting us know when it was time to break for a meal. Laura helped me hash out my concept and Tom wielded a huge saw to transform into reality my idea of one stone becoming two companion pieces. Were it not for these brainstorming sessions and lending an experienced hand at the point of need, I could probably still be standing there, gazing in bewilderment at an imposing chunk of marble. Mention must also be made of the influence Stephanie’s ebullience has as an instructor, without whom I would not have been here.  Perhaps a certain measure of mounting fatigue aids the comic reaction, but it has been a long while since I had laughed as hard or as long when April, Monica and Shaina discovered the amazing sculpting properties of stone dust build-up in the hair. We speculated the possible cottage industry of a miracle mineral hair product for the general marketplace.

A close second to that for entertaining frivolity would have to be the product copywriting skills of April and Monica for the auction the night before. Who wouldn’t enhance their stone carving skills with the inclusion of a diamond encrusted squirrel Frisbee in one’s arsenal of trusty tools? The impromptu fashion shows lent more good humor to the group, (which I hear has a comic history predating this year’s event), while the overall camaraderie and generosity brought depth to the cause.

The final night, as the group settled around a crackling campfire beneath a dark sky lit by an array of stars, song and conversation really drove home the resonating wealth of this experience, my first time at camp. As the real magic of such an event comes from the collaboration of many, I’d like to include comments of a few others who attended:

“I’m intrigued with the tools of techniques of wet carving. Seems to keep down a whole lot of dangerous dust!”

-Dave Bilyeu

“This was my third time at Silver Falls as an amateur stone carver. It’s always nice to come here because everyone treats you so well, like you’re someone, and I do just really enjoy the experience. My breakthrough this time was to get so many creative ideas and carve on several stones with a feeling of success. I am getting better each year. Thank you NWSSA!”

-Mike Kerns

“I had an amazing time at the symposium. I loved the camaraderie of all the participants, the community meals, dessert with every meal, and the colorful personalities of all the carvers. And as far as the carving goes, knocking off that first fret had me hooked. Ah, the satisfaction. “

-Shaina Zeiger (first time symposium attendee)

“We all loved the zany titles that April, Monica, Shaina and Cathy Rae put on the auction goodies. Among those printable are the set of plastic, stemmed glasses called, Six round trip tickets to Margaretville, and the, Ancient arc welder (works great! Smells even better!)”

-Tom Urban